KOCHARIAN DOWNPLAYS VANADZOR RESIDENTS FEARS

ArmenPress
Dec 20 2004

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 20, ARMENPRESS: Armenian president Robert Kocharian
downplayed last Saturday fears that construction of a new correction
facility in the proximity to the country’s third-largest town of
Vanadzor may affect the criminal situation there.

Speaking to reporters during a visit to the province of Lori, Kocharian
said the ultimate goal of extensive reforms in the judicial system
is to bring Armenian prisons in line with western requirements.

Kocharian said the town people should not worry that the new correction
facility is being built within the town’s boundaries, citing the
example of a big Russian prison that is in the downtown Moscow.

The new prison is being built on a location that used to host a bus
terminal, which, according to provincial governor, Henrik Kochinian,
can be used also for establishing workshops to give jobs not only
to prison population but also to other town residents. He said there
will be around 300 new jobs as soon as the construction is over.