Interfax - Russia & CIS Military Newswire
November 1, 2018 Thursday 10:54 AM MSK


Armenian parliament passes bill amnestying gunmen who seized Yerevan
police building in 2016

YEREVAN. Nov 1

The Armenian parliament passed in the second and final reading on
Thursday the government bill declaring an amnesty on the occasion of
the centenary of the first Republic of Armenia and the 2,800th
anniversary of Yerevan, an Interfax correspondent reported.

On Wednesday, the government of Armenia submitted to the country's
parliament the bill on an amnesty for members of the militant group
Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sassoun) who took over a police station in
Yerevan in the summer of 2016 and for people convicted of preparing
mass protests in April 2015.

"The amnesty will apply to members of the group Sasna Tsrer and their
accomplices. The amnesty will also apply to people convicted of
preparing mass protests on April 24, 2015, on Armenian Genocide
Remembrance Day. They can be amnestied if the aggrieved parties or
their legal successors are not opposed. The amnesty will not apply to
people whose actions have caused people's deaths," Artak Zeinalyan,
acting justice minister, said while presenting the amnesty bill in the
parliament.

In all, some 660 convicts would be amnestied, he said.

"There are currently 2,888 convicts in Armenia. There are 5,546 beds
in penitentiary establishments. The reason for the amnesty is not that
the penitentiary establishments are packed. It is a humanitarian act,
it is aimed at reconciliation and solidarity," Zeinalyan said.

On April 24, 2015, the National Security Service and the Armenian
Investigative Committee prevented riots. According to the latter, a
group of people called on the participants in public events marking
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide not to obey the
authorities and to use violence is needed.

Members of the Founding Parliament were also arrested on the charges
of preparing riots.

On July 17, 2016, a group of armed men seized a police station in
Yerevan and demanded the release of Jirair Sefilyan, the coordinator
of the opposition Founding Parliament, who was under arrest for
illegally acquiring and storing weapons. The group also demanded the
resignation of the president and government and the formation of a
government of national confidence. They surrendered on the evening of
July 31.

After the change of administration in Armenia, most members of Sasna
Tsrer and the Founding Parliament were released on bail under a court
ruling.

Te kf