ARMENIA APPROVES AMNESTY PROPOSAL
Lena Badeyan

"Radiolur"
19.06.2009 19:31

The Armenian Parliament today approved President Serzh Sargsyan’s
proposal on declaring an amnesty with 98 votes for, 1 against and
3 abstentions.

The general pardon will apply to about 2 000 people by September
31. Some prisoners will be set free, others will have their sentences
cut. The amnesty will apply to approximately 90% of the persons jailed
after the riots in Yerevan on March 1, 2008, Armenian Minister of
Justice Gevorg Danielyan said.

Will the general pardon apply to Deputies Hakob Hakobyan, Myasnik
Malkhasyan, as well as Gagik Jhangiryan and Smbat Ayvazyan? As for
Nikol Pshinyan, and MPs Sasun Mikaelyan and Khachatur Sukiasyan,
there are certain preconditions. The amnesty will apply to Khachatur
Sukiasyan and Nikol Pashinyan if they appear before June 30.

According to MP Zaruhi Postanjyan, all in all, 18 persons detained
after the March 1 riots in Yerevan will not benefit from the amnesty.

Let us remind that amnesty was among the requirements of the PACE
Resolutions. Does this mean that thus Armenia is implementing its
commitments before the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of
Europe? Head of the Armenian delegation to PACE David Harutyunyan
assures that "if the amnesty was the requirement of the Council of
Europe, it would have been declared in April." "This is a domestic
political issue," he added.

David Harutyunyan considers that the amnesty will help mitigate the
tension among the Armenian society and create a basis for cooperation.
From: Baghdasarian