Video: The assassination attempt against the Speaker of Parliament remains unsolved, Prime Minister comments

With pride, I must state that after the non-violent, velvet revolution of 2018, Armenia continues to be a country with semi-empty penitentiaries. This was stated today by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the National Assembly.

“This speaks to the complete elimination of the problem of overcrowding in Armenia's prisons. Notably, according to the density indicator of prison population, based on 2021 results, Armenia ranks only behind Monaco and has significantly better indicators compared to other European countries. During this time, two penitentiary institutions were closed in Armenia,” he noted.

According to him, this is a figure typical of a democratic country and befitting of a democratic state. “From time to time, our government is accused of allegedly persecuting political opponents, conducting political persecutions, and attempting to establish autocracy. Historically proven fact: in such countries where persecutions exist, prisons are opened, not closed. In such countries, prisons are overcrowded, not semi-empty. This certainly does not mean that in today's Armenia, all those who are supposed to be in prison according to the letter of the law are in prison. This means that all those who should be free are free,” he stated.

Pashinyan emphasized that this reflects their perception of Armenia: “But on the other hand, we must also consider that numerous crimes, including several key episodes of the attacks on November 9, 2020, including the assassination attempt against the Speaker of Parliament, remain unresolved to this day, and our law enforcement agencies must do everything possible to find the legal owners of some empty spaces in prisons,” the Prime Minister noted.