NO LIFE SENTENCE REVIEWED IN ARMENIA OVER PAST 20 YEARS

PanARMENIAN.Net
June 2, 2011 – 15:35 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Head of Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik
Ishkhanyan thinks that Armenia’s judicial system is still defective.

“No life sentence has been reviewed in Armenia since 1991,” Ishkhanyan
told a discussion on problems of life-term prisoners in Armenia.

According to him, lawyers refrain from voicing problems of these
people, while the public considers their rights should not be
protected.

He went on saying: “The situation suggests that a court may pass
a wrong judgment with respect to a political prisoner, but not a
life-term prisoner. Does it mean that our judicial system is so
perfect that there is no need to review verdicts?”

Ishkhanyan noted that life sentences are usually reviewed in all
developed countries, as a result of which many people are released.