The Armenian government proposes to establish liability for calls to renounce sovereignty, said Deputy Minister of Justice Levon Balyan at the February 21 sitting of the parliamentary standing committee on state-legal issues in the National Assembly during the discussion of the bill on amendments to the Criminal Code.

Thus, actions aimed at fully or partially restricting the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia through violence or the threat of violence as well as public calls for renouncing the sovereignty will be considered punishable. "The current legislation does not stipulate criminal liability for such actions. As a result of the amendment, imprisonment from 10 to 15 years is stipulated for actions aimed at full or partial restriction of the sovereignty of the Republic of Armenia," said the Deputy Minister.

For calls to renounce sovereignty different types of punishments are provided: from a fine or short-term arrest for 2 months to imprisonment for up to 3 years. "In the case of the use of publicly displayed works, as well as media and information technology for such appeals, the offenders face imprisonment of 2 to 5 years," clarified Balyan.

After quite a long and heated discussion, the legislative initiative received a positive conclusion of the parliamentary standing committee.