Who will be pardoned?
Although the draft decision on amnesty remitted to the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs is confidential we have managed to clear some details.
Amnesty was supposed to cover the detainees of the March 1-2 events as well.
But the article is entitled "Convicts sentenced to a 5-year imprisonment will be pardoned."
The document conveys a dual interpretation. On the one hand, amnesty is said to cover the detainees of the March 1 unrest. On the other hand, there are articles under which charged are brought against people complicit in the March 1-2 events which are omitted from the draft decision.
For instance, amnesty will cover detainees or defendants charged under Article 225, but it doesn't cover detainees under Article 316 (part 2) /violence against a government representative/ and detainees under Article 235 (parts 2, 3) /carrying of illegal weapons by a group of people/, etc.
Judging from the above-mentioned no pardon will be granted to Sasun Mikaelyan charged under Articles 316 and 235.
Amnesty will cover all criminals detained by June 1 of the current year. It means that the fakers of the May 31 municipal election can also be acquitted. Under the document the decision is liable to implementation by September 30, 2009.
The NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs today approved of the project. The Armenian Parliament will consider the project during its special sitting on June 19.
