A group of civil society and human rights organizations issued a joint statement expressing concern over the detention and criminal prosecution of Armenian civic-political activist Artur Osipyan. The signatories call for his immediate release, and urge international actors to pay urgent attention to the case. The full statement is published below.
We, representatives of the undersigned organizations, would like to draw your urgent attention to the detention and ongoing criminal prosecution of Armenian civic-political activist Artur Osipyan in the Republic of Armenia.
On 18 May 2026, during an election campaign and meeting with citizens held by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in streets of Yerevan, a civic-political activist Artur Osipyan from – Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh) publicly approached the Prime Minister, started asking hard questions and expressing his opinion on the causes of the loss of his homeland, communicated his criticism on corruption of local political elites there, etc. Gradually the talk became extremely emotional for both sides, which caused the Prime Minister’s outrageous reaction, offensive and abusive language against him. Video recordings of the incident circulated widely on social media and Armenian media outlets.
Amidst the verbal confrontation and the growing anger of N.Pashinyan Artur Osipyan was quickly removed by the police and later arrested. According to the official statement of the Investigative Committee of Armenia, criminal proceedings were initiated against Osipyan on charges reportedly including hooliganism, obstruction of election campaign and public calls for violence. Subsequently, the court ordered Osipyan’s two-month pre-trial detention, imposing a ban on visits and communication with the external world.
A number of Armenian civic actors, election observation, human rights and democracy watchdog organizations, public figures and representatives of Nagorno-Karabakh civil society have publicly expressed their concern regarding the case and publicly condemned the criminal prosecution and deprivation of liberty imposed on Artur Osipyan as apparently unlawful, unfounded and politically motivated. Serious concerns have also been raised regarding the use of pre-trial detention as a preventive measure, which, according to public statements by civil society representatives, appears aimed at restricting and punishing Osipyan’s public and critical speech and civic activity rather than pursuing legitimate aims prescribed by law.
Artur Osipyan is currently on hunger strike while in detention. He refused to meet the Ombudman’s representative. And the prison monitoring group cannot visit him due to the ban of visits. This makes the situation especially urgent from a humanitarian and human rights perspective.
We are deeply concerned with Artur Osipyan’s health. Also, we are much alarmed with the incident that poses a serious risk to democratic freedoms, political pluralism and freedom of expression in Armenia.
In light of the above, we respectfully urge You to publicly call on the Armenian government to immediately release Artur Osipyan and fully guarantee his fundamental rights and freedoms.
We highly value and expect Your urgent attention and intervention regarding this matter.
Sincerely,
