Will Nikol Pashinyan be freed today?
Relatives and friends of of jailed editor of "Haykakan Zhamanak" newspaper Nikol Pashinyan have gathered outside Artik penitentiary since early morning to welcome the opposition detainee who is expected to be freed under a general amnesty approved by the National Assembly on May 26. Members of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) are also on the site.
The amnesty suggests that all HAK loyalists, who were arrested following the 2008 post-election unrest and remain in jail, will be set free. Prominent opposition activists Nikol Pashinyan and Sasun Mikaelyan are among them.
Arsen Babayan, a spokesman for the Department of Penitentiaries at the Ministry of Justice, says presently they have no news concerning their release.
Earlier in May, Serzh Sargsyan proposed the National Assembly to announce an amnesty on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Armenia's independence. The Armenian parliament approved on Wednesday Serzh Sargsyan's initiative with a vote 91 to 0.
Parliament Speaker Hovik Abrahamian signed the amnesty law later in the day.
