ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS REP: THE AMNESTIED DEFENDANTS WILL HARDLY THANK SERZH SARGSYAN

ArmInfo
2009-06-15 16:32:00

‘One should not think that the amnestied defendants would thank Serzh
Sargsyan. When set free, they will appeal against all the illegal
actions by the authorities’, Karapet Rubinyan, representative of the
Armenian National Congress (ANC), ex-vice speaker, said at a press
conference, Monday.

Rubinyan said his public activity over the last 1.5 years was to see
his friends who were imprisoned for political views set free as soon
as possible. The events of March 1-2 2008 and their aftermaths were the
reasons of the amnesty announcement, he said and called the amnesty an
‘evident progress’. He said: ‘The fight for democratization of Armenia
will be continued and all the guilty will be brought responsible
one day.

For his part, the RPA representative, Rafik Petrosyan, did not directly
connect amnesty with the 1 March events and said it is necessary to
hold amnesty because of the atmosphere in the country and because
prisons in the country are overcrowded. He also said a policy is
being conducted to create an atmosphere of tolerance in the country.

‘Amnesty should be connected with Independence Day. I am for the big
number of the people to be amnestied, as the state is quite strong. In
case of violation of the Criminal Code these people may again find
themselves in prison’, – he said.

He thinks there are thousands of prisoners which will be amnestied. As
an example he mentioned the year of 2006 when 200 prisoners were
amnestied. ‘Amnesty is not a one-day business. It may be delayed for
several months’, – he said.