YEREVAN. – Acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said Armenia is forced to declare an amnesty because of the lack of normal functioning of a parole system.

The parole gives a chance to treat each convict individually, and in contrast to the amnesty that applies to certain articles of the criminal code, parole system is focused on a person, Pashinyan explained.

Acting PM admitted that almost all penitentiaries are in an extremely poor state. He said the government has to try to to ask for the assistance of the international agencies to get rid of old prison facilities.