NA discusses amnesty proposal. Some 500 to be freed immediately

The parliament is discussing today President Serzh Sargsyan’s proposal to declare an amnesty in Armenia.

‘There are crimes, but there is also a pardon, and the Constitution gives such authority to the Armenian president and the RA National Assembly,” Justice Minister Hrayr Tovmasian said when presenting the document on amnesty.

According to him, in taking an amnesty decision, attention was paid to the results of the last amnesty: repeated offences were committed by 20% of those released under the 2011 amnesty. “These indices show that the amnesty served its purpose”.

By the amnesty decision, prison terms for such crimes as theft, fraud, embezzlement and peculation committed by means of a computer, illegal possession of a vehicle, etc., will be reduced by one third, while prison terms for such crimes as kidnapping, robbery, burglary, illegal trafficking of radioactive materials, etc. will be reduced by one fourth. According to Hrayr Tovmasian, for the first time, the amnesty will apply to grave crimes as well: murder, infliction of heavy damage to health. In this case, it is proposed reducing the unserved portion of the prison term by 6 months.

The minister said the amnesty will apply to disabled people (included in 1st and 2nd disability groups), pregnant women, those with children under 3, juvenile offenders under 16, participants of World War II or the Artsakh war, and parents or children of people killed in action.