Lawyer of Armenian Helsinki Committee Robert Revazyan claims that the decision of the RA President about the life imprisonment sentence on the legal aspect is not correct.
“Presidential Decree set a punishment, which is the exclusive jurisdiction of the Court: both from the point of view of the Constitution, and the European Court of Human Rights. In this regard, the President of Armenia has assumed the function of the Court. Condemned people continued to bear the punishment on the basis of the decree. This is the biggest legal problem,” said today Mr. Revazyan during the meeting with reporters.
According to him, the number of convicted to life in prison is growing in Armenia. 15 of them are in prison for military crimes. He noted that there was not even a case of life-detainees, when the person was released prematurely, and no cases to review their affairs.
Zaruhi Mejlumyan, dealing with the issues of life convicts, also complained that last year during 6 months she received 4-5 denials to communicate, to work or to talk with life-imprisoned convicts. They were rejected mainly for security reasons.
According to Z. Mejlumyan, together with the OSCE they are shooting a film concerning the problems of convicts, and it also planned to present initiative to make changes to the Criminal Code.