Amendments to Armenian Criminal Code are welcomed, but PACE
co-rapporteurs stress it is their application that counts

Strasbourg, 02.04.2009 – The co-rapporteurs for Armenia of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Georges
Colombier (France, EPP/CD) and John Prescott (United Kingdom, SOC),
today welcomed the adoption of amendments to Articles 300 and 225 of the
Armenian criminal code. The co-rapporteurs underlined that, in its
opinion, the Venice Commission considered that these amendments would be
a clear improvement to the Law, and considerably reduce the scope for
over-broad and abusive interpretation.

"We note that the changes introduced to the Law within the agreed
timeframe, on the basis of proposals by the special working group set up
by the Speaker of the National Assembly, are fully in line with what was
indicated to us in January this year. This is a clear signal from the
Parliament that it wants to avoid any politically-motivated application
of these articles. It is clear to us that this should have a
considerable effect on the cases in relation to those deprived of their
freedom in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008 which are
currently before the courts," said the co-rapporteurs.

However, they stressed that it is the application of these amendments
that will ultimately count. We hope that the authorities, and especially
the Prosecutor General, will now follow the clear signal made by the
National Assembly," said the co-rapporteurs. "We repeat that the
Assembly has demanded that all persons deprived of their liberty in
relation to the events of 1 and 2 March, and who did not personally
commit violent crimes, should be released. These amendments offer an
effective mechanism for Armenia to comply with that demand," said the
co-rapporteurs. "However, we want to stress that there are also persons
deprived of their liberty who are not covered by Articles 300 and 225 of
the Criminal Code. We will therefore continue our dialogue with the
authorities, and the National Assembly of Armenia, with the aim of
securing their release."

The co-rapporteurs will report back to the Monitoring Committee during
the April part-session on the progress made by Armenia in implementing
Resolutions 1609 (2008), 1620 (2008) and 1643 (2009), especially with
regard to the persons deprived of their liberty in relation to the
events of 1 and 2 March 2008.