Why Former Parliamentary Speaker Abstained from Amnesty Vote

Former Speaker of Armenia’s National Assembly Tigran Torosyan during parliamentary briefings commented on why he abstained from voting on the draft resolution on amnesty proposed by Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan, Lragir.am reports.
He noted that he could not vote against it because people who should have not been punished or at least should have been penalized differently were in prison. Hence, it’s right to release such individuals.

On the other hand, he could not vote for it, because he is against amnesties in general, since amnesty is not a process for a normal, established country.

“After all, if people are arrested on charges of direct articles, their release doesn’t fit into any logic,” he noted.

Torosyan added that there are points in the text of the resolution draft on amnesty that are illogical. He cited point 5 which states that people sentenced to maximum 10 years, who served no less than the quarter of their term, should be released.

“I think the weight of the crime does not depend only on the Article and on the fact of whether it was due to negligence or not. 10 years is a long period, which means the reason of such a sentence is serious. Releasing a person only after having served 2.5 years is not right; it’s unacceptable,” said Torosyan.

Recall, parliament today ruled 91 in favor, 0 opposed and 1 abstained on a general amnesty resolution which some see as a move to placate the opposition by effectively meeting one of its key demands.