“What do you think? Is this not blatant repression of freedom of speech?”: Political Prisoner Narek Samsonyan’s wife’s address to the US Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvien

The political prisoner Narek Samsonyan’s wife publicly addressed to the US Ambassador to Armenia Kristina Kvein. The footage of the address as well as the text on paper will be handed over to the Embassy by the Antifake.am editorial staff.

To the U.S. Ambassador to Armenia, Kristina Kvien

Honorable Ambassador Kristina Kvien,

I am Lusine, the wife of political prisoner Narek Samsonyan, who has been imprisoned for two months for the second time for exercizing his right to freedom of speech. During his previous imprisonment, my husband addressed you with an open letter from prison, urging you to speak out about human rights violations in Armenia and the authorities’ vicious practice of suppressing free speech. I do not know whether my husband’s letter reached you or not, as no response was received. This time, I am addressing you, because it is painful to watch representatives of a nation founded on free speech remain silent while witnessing what is happening in our country.

Today, an unprecedented number of political prisoners are serving sentences in prisons simply for disagreeing with what the Pashinyan regime is doing to our state. It is now criminally punishable here to voice one’s own political views and to criticize the authorities.

Today, we are experiencing firsthand the following words of your former President, Harry Truman: “Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear.”

Today, an atmosphere of fear is being created in Armenia by the authorities, as those who publicly criticize the current administration end up in prisons on various fabricated criminal charges. My husband is in prison today for the word “buttocks”; this is stated in the criminal case.

After the third President of Armenia, Serzh Sargsyan, was hosted on their “Imnemnimi” podcast, members of the ruling Civil Contract party (CP) targeted my husband and the podcast’s co-host, Vazgen Saghatelyan, via Facebook posts,  insulting comments addressed to them using the filthiest vocabulary. The Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, was not an exception; he called my husband and Vazgen “sons of bitches”. In response to this, during the next episode of the podcast, my husband and Vazgen responded to the insults directed at them.

My husband used the word “buttocks,” for which Alen Simonyan appealed to law enforcement. Days later, masked National Security Service’s Alpha squad entered our home, searched it in front of me and our two young children, and despite him voluntarily complying with law enforcement and offering no resistance, they twisted his arms and took my husband away; you can watch the footage online. Armenian law enforcement considered the word “buttocks” to be hooliganism, yet saw no evidence of crime in Alen Simonyan’s phrase “sons of bitches” or the insults made by CP members. What is this, if not the terror mentioned by Harry Truman?

Moreover, if last time the authorities limited themselves to only arresting my husband and Vazgen, this time the entire staff of AntiFake.am was targeted. The journalist and the cameraman were also arrested without grounds, allegedly for obstructing the administration of justice. Journalist Davit Fidanyan was detained for 60 hours, while cameraman Ishkhan Khosrovyan was released the same day. A search was conducted at the AntiFake office, and all equipment was confiscated: all computers, all microphones (working and not) all cameras, all tripods, all microphone stands, all filming drones, power banks, memory cards, all batteries, all chargers, equipment necessary for live broadcasting, and devices ensuring on-air sound quality—zoom recorders, mixers, cables, and the DVR for the office security cameras. The goal of this is to cause us direct material damage.

Fortunately, supporters were found who very quickly acquired the necessary equipment with their own funds, and the news outlet continues its activities, though admittedly not at full capacity, as it remains a target of the authorities.

Both my husband and I have believed in American democracy since our student years, admiring how America was founded on free speech and democracy. We admired your political culture and considered that your political culture—where the system dictates to the politician, not the politician to the system—could play a vital role in the development of nations.

I also want to quote the words of Presidents George Washington and Theodore Roosevelt:

“If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.”
— George Washington

“To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.”
— Theodore Roosevelt

All your Presidents have valued freedom of speech and placed great importance on the voice of the opposition and opposing speech, whereas in Armenia today, that is forbidden.

Officials, led by Nikol Pashinyan, allow themselves to use filthy vocabulary, to speak in such a manner about church clergy, about benefactors, and about their opponents, yet when citizens respond, they end up in prison. Pashinyan recently confessed that he used profanity, yet this self-confession was not followed by criminal prosecution. Why? Because he swore at his opponents? That is permissible.

Your President Donald Trump is also known for addressing his political opponents with harsh vocabulary, but I cannot recall a case where a criminal case was initiated against him or his speech was qualified as hooliganism. In this context, why do you remain silent about the persecution of opposition speech in Armenia?

What do you think? Is this not blatant repression of freedom of speech? Is the silence of the Embassy not an attempt to fool everyone? As the 16th U.S. President Abraham Lincoln—who is my husband’s favorite U.S. President—said: “You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”

I await your response with great anticipation. If that response cannot be public, I expect a meeting with you in an “off the record” format to present the case to you in more detail and to receive the answers I expect from you. After all, the Armenian public is also witnessing the silence from you and your European counterparts.

Narek Samsonyan is a political prisoner imprisoned once again for his speech, and one who still romantically believes in true Western values.

Sincerely,

Lusine Arakelyan