At Thursday's Cabinet session, the government approved the draft law on making addenda to the Criminal Code, whereby criminal accountability will be set for making calls to renounce Armenia's sovereignty.

Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan, presenting the bill, recalled that accountability for overthrowing the constitutional order of Armenia is defined by the working Criminal Code, whereas no criminal liability is provided for calls for voluntary renunciation of sovereignty or forceful imposition, even though sovereignty is the main feature of the state.

The draft law is proposed to set fines of various amounts and up to a maximum of three years of imprisonment for making public calls aimed at renouncing Armenia’s sovereignty, and two to five years of imprisonment for disseminating such calls through various information sources and mass media. And it will be proposed to impose 10 to 15 years of imprisonment for committing various violent acts aimed at renouncing Armenia’s sovereignty.

"Does this change mean that no one can publicly call for the non-existence of Armenia?" asked Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Minasyan gave a positive response, and recalled that the current Criminal Code already defines criminal responsibility for calls and actions aimed at violating the territorial integrity of Armenia, so the new regulation will be the logical continuation of such chain of crimes.