120 DRAFT DODGERS GRANTED AMNESTY FOR CASH

At least 120 Armenian men who for years evaded compulsory military service have bought a government amnesty since the entry into force on March 1 of a special law allowing the practice, a senior official told Liberty. The opportunity is offered to those aged 27 before the law was passed by the parliament. The Armenian military estimates that the amnesty-for-cash arrangement will be applicable to about 5,000 men. The maximum fine is set at 1.8 million drams. In the words of Sedrak Sedrakian, the chief lawyer at Armenia’s Defense Ministry, the government commission has already collected 40 million drams by June 2004. To note, the applications are being reviewed and approved by an inter-ministerial government commission headed by defense minister Serge Sargsian.