Commissioner gives advice
"I advise applying amnesty," this is what CE Human Rights Commissioner Tomas Hammarberg considers as the only operative decision.
According to him, this is the only way to reinforce protection of human rights in Armenia in the future.
"This is also necessary in order to turn that sad page in Armenia's history," said Tomas Hammarberg as he responded to Armenian parliamentarian Zaruhi Postanjyan's question from the podium of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Postanjyan stated that the amendments made to the respective articles of the Criminal Code actually haven't changed the situation in Armenia. Mr. Hammarberg also noted that before the amendments, the articles by which the seven opposition representatives were being charged with were comprehensive and were open to various interpretations. But he was not convinced by the charge brought up after the legislative reforms.
The commissioner also touched upon the fact-finding group created for investigating the events of March 1 and said that based on his data, there is progress and that there may be revelations as a result of the group's work.
Tomas Hammarberg presented his annual report at the PACE and mainly touched upon the current situation in Moldova.
Karine Asatryan
Strasbourg
