Lragir, Armenia
Nov 10 2006

SERGE SARGSYAN WILL NOT MEET ARMAN BABAJANYAN’S REQUEST

The commission of the Ministry of Defense discussed the application
of Arman Babajanyan, Editor-in-Chief of the Time Yerevan Newspaper,
and rejected it. On November 10 the minister of defense Serge
Sargsyan stated this to news reporters.

Arman Babajanyan was sentenced to four years of imprisonment for
forging documents and avoiding military service. Babajanyan appealed
to the Court of Cassation and the case is on trial. At the same time,
the editor-in-chief of the Time Yerevan Newspaper submitted an
application to the minister of defense on applying the law on
pardoning persons who avoided military service in 1992-2005 if the
latter pay a certain sum.

`We have a written conclusion, which runs that the commission cannot
attend to a cases if there is already a decision of the court. The
commission cannot be superior to the court,’ stated the minister of
defense. According to him, the commission has never attended to cases
if there is already a decision of the court.

It should be noted that several days ago Arman Babajanyan’s attorney
stated in a news conference that the decision of the court has not
come into force yet because the case is tried by the Court of
Cassation, which means that Arman Babajanyan remains under
prosecution.