We Propose to Broaden the Scope of Military Amnesty Beneficiaries - Naira Zohrabyan

Member of the National Assembly’s Prosperous Armenia faction, Naira Zohrabyan, wrote on her Facebook page: “Thousands of young people are waiting for the draft law on declaring amnesty for individuals who evaded military service. The government decided that only individuals over 27 years old, up until and including September 26, 2020, would benefit from the amnesty. The justification was that those who avoided coming back to the homeland and participating in the second Nagorno-Karabakh war should not have the right to benefit from amnesty.

This is a flawed approach, as hundreds of young people wanted to come to Armenia and go to the front lines, but due to the closure of air borders related to the coronavirus, they simply could not.

Therefore, tomorrow we will present a proposal in the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defense and Security to broaden the categories of individuals covered by the draft law and to replace the wording 'until September 26, 2020' with 'until the entry into force of this law,' which significantly increases the number of our compatriots benefiting from the amnesty.

In addition, the second part of Article 5 of the draft states that the amnesty does not apply to individuals under investigation until this law comes into force, except for those who personally present themselves to law enforcement authorities by December 31, 2021, and if the case is in court, to the court.

This regulation is also questionable, as many of our compatriots living abroad might not be able to return to Armenia personally for various reasons, for example, not having a valid passport, and the process of getting released from criminal prosecution could take several months.

Therefore, to avoid future issues with the relevant state authorities, we propose to add the phrase 'or through an authorized person' following 'personally and voluntarily' in the second part of Article 5.

With this draft, we are addressing an important issue, and if we have decided to go for a broad amnesty, it should not be selective and unjust. We hope that tomorrow the committee will accept our proposal, and thousands of young Armenians will have the opportunity to return to their homeland.”