YEREVAN. – The general amnesty, which was expected to be declared in Armenia ahead of the Armenian Genocide Centennial on April 24, seems to be deferred, Hraparak wrote.

“Information has reached us that the authorities are planning to move the amnesty to May. 

“It was initially planned to declare amnesty before April 24, but the [recent] arrest of the [opposition Founding Parliament [(FP) initiative] members has changed all decks of cards. [Accordingly,] if amnesty is declared before April 24, this will also apply to [imprisoned FP leader] Jirair Sefilian and his [likewise imprisoned] friends, which, naturally, is not to the heart’s desire of the authorities; they [had] arrested the FP members so that the latter would not ‘spoil’ [the] April 24 [commemorations].

“Now, our sources assure that the amnesty will be [declared] at the beginning of May. This information, however, cannot be clarified in any way,” Hraparak wrote.