MARCH 1 COMMISSION SUGGESTS THE PRESIDENT TO DECLARE AMNESTY
Lena Badeyan
"Radiolur"
04.06.2009 17:58
Fifty-four citizens are still in jail after the events of March 1
in Yerevan. The ad hoc commission of the National Assembly set to
probe into the events of March 1 and 2 in Yerevan decided today to
apply to the President of the Republic with a suggestion to declare
amnesty. The proposal was co-authored by Artsvik Minasyan from ARF
Dashnaktsutyun and Naira Zohrabyan from the Prosperous Armenia Party.
The suggestion of the President of the Republic, the calls of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, the necessity
of launching a sound political dialogue among the society and the
approaches of the March 1 Commission made its members apply to the
President with a corresponding proposal. Co-author of the initiative
Artsvik Minasyan presented the essence of their request:
"Taking into consideration that the commission attaches importance to
easing the situation in jails, we consider that the amnesty should
be applied not only connected with the events of March 1 and 2, but
also in the context of general pardon as it has been done before on
the occasion of the 15th anniversary of independence and associated
with constitutional amendments."