Students Go on Fresh Hunger Strike Against Abolishment of Military Deferments

The group fighting against the Armenian Government-initiated abolishment of the military draft deferments for students has declared that they are ending the “ineffective” negotiations with representatives of the authorities and beginning a fresh open-ended hunger strike as a protest against the newly-adopted amendments to the law on military duty. Two members of the For the Development of Science group started a hunger strike at one of the sub-buildings of the Yerevan State University, stating that the Government’s plan to grant deferments only to “exceptionally good” students does not satisfy them.

“The month-long negotiations have no results. Provision 22.5 of the law [envisages deferments only for students] who will be deemed ‘exceptional’ or ‘genius.’ Note, that neither the ministry of defense nor the ministry of education have no idea what the requirements are to be considered genius. We therefore are convinced that the this provision is fraught with corruption risks,” Davit Petrosyan, a member of the group, wrote on his Facebook page.

The students added that the Government has denied all the alternative proposals put forward by the group.