Abrahamian told RFE/RL that Sarkisian will make a statement to that effect on May 28, a national holiday. “It will be about a general amnesty and it will be on May 28,” he said.
The influential speaker, who is a leading member of Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), did not specify whether the amnesty will apply to all 55 or so supporters of opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian remaining in prison. The vast majority of them have already been tried and sentenced on charges mainly stemming from the March 1, 2008 deadly clashes in Yerevan between security forces and opposition protesters challenging official vote results.
Six of those detainees, among them three members of parliament, are currently facing separate trials for allegedly organizing the March 2008 “mass disturbances” that left ten people dead and more than 200 others injured. They were initially also accused of attempting to overthrow Armenia’s government by force. State prosecutors dropped the coup charges earlier this year, raising more questions about the official theory of the worst street violence in the country’s history.
Ter-Petrosian and his Armenian National Congress (HAK) alliance regards the jailed oppositionists as “political prisoners,” while the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) believes that at least some of them were prosecuted on “seemingly artificial or politically motivated charges.” The PACE has repeatedly threatened to impose sanctions against Yerevan if those individuals are not set free. The Strasbourg-based body is expected to again discuss the issue at its next session in late June.
The influential speaker, who is a leading member of Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), did not specify whether the amnesty will apply to all 55 or so supporters of opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian remaining in prison. The vast majority of them have already been tried and sentenced on charges mainly stemming from the March 1, 2008 deadly clashes in Yerevan between security forces and opposition protesters challenging official vote results.
Six of those detainees, among them three members of parliament, are currently facing separate trials for allegedly organizing the March 2008 “mass disturbances” that left ten people dead and more than 200 others injured. They were initially also accused of attempting to overthrow Armenia’s government by force. State prosecutors dropped the coup charges earlier this year, raising more questions about the official theory of the worst street violence in the country’s history.
Ter-Petrosian and his Armenian National Congress (HAK) alliance regards the jailed oppositionists as “political prisoners,” while the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) believes that at least some of them were prosecuted on “seemingly artificial or politically motivated charges.” The PACE has repeatedly threatened to impose sanctions against Yerevan if those individuals are not set free. The Strasbourg-based body is expected to again discuss the issue at its next session in late June.