Based on the first provision of the Article 81/1 of the Constitution and 90th article of the National Assembly’s charter, president Serzh Sargsyan has applied to the parliament to declare amnesty dedicated to the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence.
The president’s recommendation to grant amnesty was sent to the parliament, and after a short discussion by the standing committee on state and legal affairs behind closed doors was approved. It was included in the agenda and will be discussed on Monday. Even though the details of the amnesty are not published, according to our information the amnesty will concern approximately 2000 people, 400 out of which will be released and the others will have shorter term of punishment. Certainly the main goal of this amnesty is releasing the political prisoners even though the authorities don’t say that. After the parliament’s approval the amnesty shall be published within 24 hours and it is not excluded that the political prisoners will be free on Tuesday.