I deem it necessary to include in the new Criminal Code a point about raising the age limit for the term of life imprisonment from 18 to 21. The amendments to the Criminal Code are linked to a political decision, but the Armenian authorities aren’t ready to make those amendments, just like the authorities weren’t ready to make them in 2003. This is what President of the Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik Ishkhanyan told journalists today.

According to him, the former authorities had made certain attempts to make amendments, but then everything went back to the way it was. He also stated that there are very grave crimes being committed in the army. “In this case, we need to set aside two types of victims. A victim can be deemed to be not only the person who has directly become an object of violence, but also the entity that has become the victim of the rules and regulations in the army,” Ishkhanyan concluded.