OMBUDSMAN OF ARMENIA OFFICIALLY APPLIES TO CE VENICE COMMISSION TO STUDY THE ITEMS OF ARTICLE 301 OF ARMENIAN CRIMINAL CODE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE

ArmInfo Agency, Armenia
Oct 10 2007

ArmInfo. Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan officially applied to the
CE Venice Commission to study the items of Article 301 of the Armenian
Criminal Code (calls of overthrow of power) as soon as possible.

The press-service of the Armenian ombudsman told ArmInfo that
A.Harutyunyan will visit Strasbourg on October 16-19. Within the
frames of his visit, the ombudsman will meet representatives of the
Venice Commission.

According to the source, on September 27, Zaruhi Postanjyan, an MP from
Heritage Party, applied to the Armenian Human Rights Defender’s Office
to study the compliance of Article 301 of the Armenian Criminal Code
with Article 27 of the Armenian Constitution, as well as to express
an opinion about the draft law "On amending the Criminal Code of
Armenia" submitted to parliament. To note, the draft law stipulates
withdrawal of Article 301 from the Criminal Code of Armenia. By
A.Harutyunyan’s instruction, a sub-commission was set up to study
the European legislation and relevant international agreements from
the viewpoint of this article, as well as to get knowledge of the
case-law of the European Court of Human Rights.

To recall, the draft law "On amending the Criminal Code of Armenia" was
submitted to the Armenian parliament by Zaruhi Postanjyan in September.