Davit Gyurjyan, a legal expert from the Law Development and Protection Foundation, participated in the press conference on the issues of penitentiaries held at the Media Centre. Apart from Gyurjyan, the press conference featured the following speakers: Nina Karapetyants, president of the "Helsinky Association" NGO, and Ani Chatinyan, an attorney at the NGO Helsinki Citizens' Assembly-Vanadzor.
The press conference was arranged on the occasion of urgent problems in the Nubarashen penitentiary, reported by some detainees. According to Gyurjyan, the vast majority of the problems are systemic. In particular, Nubarashen Penitentiary lacks a medium security level. Yet, the detainees who should be accommodated in that category are still held in this facility. Furthermore, former servicemen shall not be accommodated in the Nubarashen penitentiary and shall be placed separately. However, this regulation is not followed. The discussion highlighted the inhuman conditions in the cells, the impossibility of employing convicts, the problems of medical care in the penitentiaries, and parole-related issues.
Davit Gyurjyan characterized the cell conditions as inhuman, under which it is not possible to organize proper meetings, especially lengthy ones or those involving children. According to the speakers, although the state evaluates the resocialization of convicts, it fails to provide the necessary conditions for this.
