ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT REPEALED DEATH PENALTY

The Armenian parliament has ratified the sixth protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights providing for repeal of death penalty. The corresponding bill was passed today by two thirds of deputy votes in spite of the boycott of the vote by the faction of “Justice” opposition block, which was against repealing death penalty. It should be reminded that according to the new Criminal Code of Armenia, death penalty was provided for only for two types of crimes – terrorism and violence against minors, committed before constituting the new Criminal Code. In the rest of the cases death penalty was replaced by life imprisonment. Thus, people, who had committed the act of terrorism in the Armenian parliament October 27 1999, the trial on which still continues, did not fall into the category of those covered by death penalty repeal.