Armenia: Scandal of the Day - ‘party’ in prison - Picture of the Day

When I first looked at this picture, it never crossed my mind - until I read the accompanying text - that I am looking at prison here...

Armenia -- Artyom Khachatrian (R), editor of the pro-government ''Azatamtutyun'' daily, pictured with three men serving life sentences for politically motivated murders in Yerevan's Nubarashen prison on October 5, 2009. Photo courtesy of ''Haykakan Zhamanak. (RFE/RL)

Justice Minister Gevorg Danielian ordered an inquiry on Thursday after the publication of a revealing prison photograph that shows the editor of a pro-government newspaper in the company of three men serving life sentences for politically motivated murders.

The photo, which appeared on the front-page of the pro-opposition daily “Haykakan Zhamanak,” shows Artyom Khachatrian of the “Azatamtutyun” newspaper and one of his aides drinking coffee and soft drinks with the convicts at Yerevan’s Nubarashen prison.

All five men smiled as they had their picture taken by an unknown photographer. Two of them, Derenik Bejanian and Eduard Grigorian, were among the gunmen that had burst into Armenia’s parliament in October 1999, killing its speaker Karen Demirchian, Prime Minister Vazgen Sarkisian and six other officials. They share their prison cell with Arsen Ardzruni, a former member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation convicted of being a member of a death squad that had allegedly operated in the early 1990s.

“Haykakan Zhamanak” called the photograph scandalous, saying that Khachatrian’s joint appearance with the convicted assassins was a serious breach of prison regulations. “What common things do they have to discuss and to do?” it asked in a dig at the editor who is reputed to have close ties to the government. More...