UPDATE- Statement retracted, or a lots and lots and lots of clarification. See the RFE/RL article (thanks to Ani for the reference).
Are any of us surprised?
Nope.
In an interview with RFE (listen here, start at 5:22), Hovik Abrahamyan stated that on May 28, SS will declare amnesty. According to an article in a1plus, the ANC isn't getting too excited just yet. And, given the complete lack of transparency and trustworthiness of the current regime, and I'm not counting my chickens before they hatch, either. It's not quite clear WHO would be granted Amnesty, just the 7? All of the political prisoners? Even those who aren't actually in captivity?
And even if Amnesty is granted, will it be under specific conditions?
I am cautious, but hopeful that all of the political prisoners will be set free. I can only begin to imagine the possibilities...
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"Believe me and trust me," said Abrahamyan.
Perhaps he is hoping for a GENERAL amnesty, seeing as how so many of his friends and relatives are having "difficulties" these days:
http://tinyurl.com/oprvzr
Armenian Speaker Linked With Fresh Violence In ‘Fiefdom’
Police raided a village in southern Armenia and rounded up many of its residents late Wednesday following renewed violence involving a local businessman and individuals reportedly connected with parliament speaker Hovik Abrahamian, who has long held sway in the area.
The whereabouts of the businessman, Hovannes Ghazarian, and several residents of Mrgavan village detained by the police remained unknown on Thursday.
According to press reports and local residents, Ghazarian and his supporters brawled with a group of other men, including Abrahamian’s son, nephew and bodyguards, in the nearby town of Artashat. The Yerevan daily “Haykakan Zhamanak” said the bodyguards attacked Ghazarian on the street attacked before being themeslves beaten up later in the day.
[...]
Since SS came to power, Armenia's situation on all aspects was downhill. It began to go down the hill while RK was in power. The situation became worse with SS. Knowing this, is SS trying to save his " reputation" for a while by calming the masses? Who knows what he is thinking considering the fact that he was a former (currnet KGB). Especially now that different political parties are at each others neck...
Time will tell...
I can't blame you for fantasizing. Everybody needs a break.
But its a war that is never going to end. It's one of those "Either you die, or I die" kinds of a situation. So, NO: It's not over.
I think that when LTP left power things started to improve. As far as amnesty is concerned: I say try them all: whoever is guilty should serve time. whoever is free should be set free.
Well, that was quick, huh?
http://tinyurl.com/q4yeqh
Armenian Speaker Retracts Opposition Amnesty Claim
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Let's revisit that earlier quote:
"Believe me and trust me," said Abrahamyan.
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Yeah, sure, right. There's a good reason that nobody does that....
You can't have an amnesty for people who are innocent by definition.
innocent by definition?
what definition?
[defintition of] political prisoner - n. A person who has been imprisoned for holding or advocating dissenting political views.
Holding and advocating a dissenting political views is not a crime according to the Armenian Constitution.
Serzh Sargsyan, man of IN-action: http://tinyurl.com/mqfpza
Sarkisian ‘Ready’ To Free Jailed Oppositionists
President Serzh Sarkisian said on Thursday that he will declare an amnesty for dozens of imprisoned opposition members only if Armenia’s leading political groups prove that there is strong public support for such a move.
[...]
“I therefore call on all political forces, public figures, the [presidential] Public Council to submit their proposals on the necessity and conditions of the amnesty to the presidential administration. And if it emerges as a result that there is such a desire in the society, then I will immediately make use of my constitutional right and appeal to the National Assembly to pass a law,” he said.
A top representative of Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress (HAK) scoffed at the proposal. “It’s very bad that Serzh Sarkisian doesn’t know his people’s feelings and desires and is thus unable to assess the situation in the country,” said Aram Sarkisian.
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Such progress has been made on the committees to investigate March 1 events etc. etc., one can imagination the speed with which "submitting proposals" after which it might "emerge" that there "is a desire in the society"--not to mention the "president" has a right to do this forthwith if he so pleases.
if people committed a crime on March 1 then they are criminals. I don't care if they are part of the hopeless opposition or the state itself.
I doubt many of those in jail now are innocent in this regard, but my opinion (or that of anyone else here) doesn't matter; they should be tried and either given a sentence or released.
Ironic though that LTP is complaining about political prisoners. He has to have broken a record for hypocrisy given his reign of terror when he destroyed Armenia during his fraudulent terms in office.
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