Jailing a person for 3 years for promise to vote for someone contradicts criminal right – MP

The lawmakers are concerned with the changes proposed in the Armenian Criminal Code. Speaking at an extraordinary NA sitting chairman of the State-Legal Affairs Standing Committee Gevorg Kostanyan said that the adoption of the bill contains serious dangers. They have voted for the bill at the committee’s session not to fail the extraordinary sitting but this bill needs to be thoroughly revised and corrected.

MP from the Tsarukyan faction Gevorg Petrosyan said, “Everyone is against election frauds and bribes. We have one goal – to prevent frauds at the elections, but we should not do it on the account of others’ interests. The wrong formulations in the bill threaten peoples’ interests,” Petrosyan said.

He stressed that the point that a person may be jailed up to 3 years for unknowingly promising to vote for a candidate raises particular concerns.

“To jail a person for 3 years only because he/she promised to vote for someone contradicts the principle of criminal right. The promise is equalized to giving a bribe which is not acceptable in the criminal right,” he stressed.

With these legislative changes the government proposes criminal responsibility both for those who give election bribes and those who accept it.