Government to Refund Citizens Who Have Already Paid Fines

Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Lena Nazaryan writes on her Facebook page: "Dear citizens, wearing a mask is primarily imposed for your health and that of your relatives. In open spaces, the PRESENCE of a mask is mandatory, NOT the act of WEARING it. In closed spaces, it is MANDATORY to wear it. The fines are intended to address prevention rather than punishment; based on this logic, the NA today approved a bill in two readings, which reduces the previous fines of 100,000-250,000 drams to 10,000 drams, which will also have a RETROACTIVE EFFECT. Those who were fined 100-250 thousand drams in the past months will also see their fines reduced to 10,000 drams. Furthermore, the government will refund the respective amount to those citizens who have already paid their fines.

In the National Assembly, we are also wearing masks, only removing them when speaking with a microphone and maintaining social distance. Thanks to Gayane Abrahamyan for the clarifications."