The Prisoners of Decree
By Karine Asatryan
The article was written from January 2019 to June 2019
The article was written from January 2019 to June 2019
Woman on the Other Side of Freedom
It's a cool Sunday morning in spring and a young woman is selling books in the centre of Yerevan on Northern Avenue. As compared to other working days, there are not so many passers-by but the woman is still there after some hours. The books were written by her husband, who didn't spend a single day home during their six-year marriage. The woman is Zaruhi Mejlumyan, a journalist and a lawyer. She is married to Mher Yenokyan, who has a lifetime sentence. The profits of the sold books will go to the publication of a new one by the convict. The books bears the title "Girl, woman or happiness in prison" and is dedicated to Zaruhi, who he married during his service in prison.
Man behind the Bars
Very few people in Armenia haven't heard the name of Mher Yenokyan, who was given a lifetime sentence. He is the prison columnist of Hetq online edition, where every week he shares his reflections on prison, freedom and other topics with readers. His salary helped him pay his tuition fee, while in prison he earned a degree in Law at Armenian-Russian (Slavonic) State University. He is an author of six books.
It was back in May, 2018, when almost all the media outlets in Armenia covered the defense of his diploma paper in Nubarashen penitentiary institution.
Mher Enokyan in the photo
Mher Enokyan in the photo
A news leak in 2019 revealed that he had issued an appeal for amnesty which was rejected. This news also appeared in the Armenian media spotlight .
The violation of the amnesty privacy policy not only led to heated discussions whether the life-termer should be released but also targeted his wife. They had met and had got married in prison, when Zaruhi was investigating the cases as a reporter.
The violation of the amnesty privacy policy not only led to heated discussions whether the life-termer should be released but also targeted his wife. They had met and had got married in prison, when Zaruhi was investigating the cases as a reporter.
Mher and Zaruhi in the court
Mher Yenokyan was charged with the murder of his coursemate at the age of 20. In 1996, he was found guilty and sentenced to death. This verdict was then commuted to life imprisonment by the presidential decree in 2003. Yenokyan made attempts to break out of prison twice (in 2004 and in 2009) together with his cellmate. He later referred to these escapes as a desperate attempt to attractthe public attention to the challenges faced by life-termers.
Yenokyan is struggling to have his case reviewed, as he considers himself to be a hostage claiming that he "had been sentenced on the testimony that had been changed four times, without any substantial or indisputable evidence through the severe violations of investigation procedures."
Mher is confident that he would be at liberty or wouldn't have lost his hope for release if there hadn't been the presidential decree issued by Robert Kocharyan,the 2nd President of RA to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment.
Yenokyan is struggling to have his case reviewed, as he considers himself to be a hostage claiming that he "had been sentenced on the testimony that had been changed four times, without any substantial or indisputable evidence through the severe violations of investigation procedures."
Mher is confident that he would be at liberty or wouldn't have lost his hope for release if there hadn't been the presidential decree issued by Robert Kocharyan,the 2nd President of RA to commute a death sentence to life imprisonment.
The Pardon that "Stole" the Hope of Freedom
Back in 2003, on 1 August, 42 convicts sentenced to death in Armenian prisons became life–termers. Their destiny was affected by the RA presidential decree N ՆՀ-103-Ա dated 01.08.2003. The decree granted them pardon by commuting their death sentences to life imprisonment. The Government considered this step to be a commendable one that would lead to the general welfare of the convicts. However, this action was not welcomed either by the convicts or their family members who started campaigns of protest against it.
In October, 2003, Armenia abolished capitalpunishment to comply with standards set by the Council of Europe that forbid member nations from maintaining capital punishment. However, there was one "but" …
There hadn't been in Armenia since 1991 and the convicts on death row were hoping for release by pardon.
"The previous Criminal Code stated that if a convict on death row was granted a pardon, then they could be sentenced to more than 15 years of imprisonment. The imprisonment, however, could not exceed 20 years. Hence, the maximum number of years for a prison sentence was 20 years."- says Robert Revazyan, an attorney, who was Yenokyan's defense lawyer in 2012 and appealed the presidential decree.
Robert Revazyan in the photo
Their appeal was rejected by the court. Though Robert Kocharyan was not the president at that time, Robert Revazyan had anticipated the rejection, as "Judges are appointed and dismissed by the President, hence no judge would go against the President."
Robert Revazyan still believes that Robert Kocharyan's decree was not an act of pardon, as it also imposed a penalty and only court could afford that kind of exclusive authority.
It is interesting to note that while capital punishment was abolished in other post-Soviet countries, and the presidents granted pardon to the convicts on death row, it was only in Armenia and Azerbaijan that death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.
Kocharyan couldn't have sentenced me to life imprisonment
Arsen Artsruni is one of those 42 survivors who were facing execution and whose sentence was commuted to that of life imprisonment by the presidential decree in 2003 . He was granted a meeting in the library of Armavir penitentiary .
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Everybody knows that ex-president Robert Kocharyan's decree did not comply with the legislation and had detrimental effects.
Arsen Artsuni in the photo
Back in the 90s, Arsen Artsruni was arrested on the charges of being part of "Dro" cell, that was allegedly the initiative of the then opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF). He has been claiming for years that Robert Kocharyan did not have the right to have his sentence commuted to that of life imprisonment. He believes that the discussion should not revolve around the issue which is harsher: death penalty or life imprisonment but should bring to mind a certain legislative document.
"Robert Kocharyan had one primary reason not to consider commuting death penalty to life imprisonment, the law on the enforcement of the criminal code stating that that those sentenced to death penalty can't have their sentence commuted to imprisonment for life."
The presidential pardon by Decree ՆՀ-103-Ա was preceded by the Law on Enforcement of RA Criminal Code on 18 April , 2003. The law not only listed the cases when death penalty could be commuted to imprisonment for life but also highlighted the exceptions.
"Robert Kocharyan had one primary reason not to consider commuting death penalty to life imprisonment, the law on the enforcement of the criminal code stating that that those sentenced to death penalty can't have their sentence commuted to imprisonment for life."
The presidential pardon by Decree ՆՀ-103-Ա was preceded by the Law on Enforcement of RA Criminal Code on 18 April , 2003. The law not only listed the cases when death penalty could be commuted to imprisonment for life but also highlighted the exceptions.
Arsen Artsruni quotes the exception to the law which runs as follows: "The provisions of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, adopted on April 18, 2003, on the abolition of the death penalty do not apply to persons who, prior to the entry into force of this Law, committed aggravated murder, a terrorist act, and rape of a minor."
Arsen Artsuni was found guilty on the charges of premeditated murder based on the Criminal code of 1961 and was sentenced to death penalty by the verdict of Supreme Court on 10 December, 1996. He claims that his trial was subjective and that the verdict was reached out of political considerations.
He claims that his trial was subjective and that the verdict was reached out of political considerations:
"Those who followed the trial realize that Dro was not a court trial. It was a political struggle between the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the forces that supported him and Armenian Revolutionary Federation."
Arsen Artsuni was found guilty on the charges of premeditated murder based on the Criminal code of 1961 and was sentenced to death penalty by the verdict of Supreme Court on 10 December, 1996. He claims that his trial was subjective and that the verdict was reached out of political considerations.
He claims that his trial was subjective and that the verdict was reached out of political considerations:
"Those who followed the trial realize that Dro was not a court trial. It was a political struggle between the first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, the forces that supported him and Armenian Revolutionary Federation."
"I was sentenced to death penalty solely out of the charges of repeat offence."
Arsen Artsruni
a life-termer
In 2011, when the Criminal Code was amended and repeated conviction of the person for the same crime was prohibited, Arsen Artsruni turned to the court again confident that the charges against would be dropped.
"It was crystal clear that there were no more grounds for me to serve the maximum term." However, the court rejected his appeal."
"This is how I ended up facing repression at the beginning of 2013 and I've been illegally imprisoned for already 6 years."-he says.
The convict remembers the prosecutor in court demandingthat the repeat offence should be replaced with committing more than one murder" in this way keepingthe life imprisonment sentence unchanged.
Arsen Artsruni says that the prosecutor in his case was Artur Davtyan, the prosecutor general of the Republic of Armenia, and it was his words that made him apply to the European Court of Human Rights.
The European Court has not yet reached its verdict. Reportedly, the decision will have been made by January, 2020.
Pardon Followed by Punishment
Life is sweet, - this is how Avetik Ishkhanyan, the president of Helsinki Committee of Armenia, responds to the discussions on the harshness of capital punishment as compared to life imprisonment.
Life imprisonment nurtures a small hope that the convict might be released one day and even the legislation confirms this hope. With this in mind, Avetik Ishkhanyan does not seek to assess the presidential decree by Robert Kocharyan, as he sees a casus in a case when the President both grants a pardon and passes a sentence to life imprisonment.
"Did the RA President afford the right to pardon? Yes, that was within his authority. Did he have the right to pass a life sentence? This is the main issue."
Avetik Ishkhanyan
The President of Helsinki Committee of Armenia
"Life sentence seems to be more aggravating especially after the pardon, as the Criminal Code states that when granted pardon convicts on death row should have their cases reviewed by the court and be given a maximum term of 15-20 years."– the defender says.
"Society tended to think that the prisoners, especially those sentenced to life imprisonment were monsters. In some circles, they would even dispute the necessity of having capital punishment abolished."
Most of the "new" life-termers tried to dispute the decree.
"Given the fact that the courts in Armenia were not independent, no judge would dare go against the decree. All the attempts to have the cases reviewed by the courts turned out futile."- Avetik Ishkhanyan says.
The attorney believes that the life-termers had long been ignored by the government which also led to society adopting the same disposition towards them.
"Given the fact that the courts in Armenia were not independent, no judge would dare go against the decree. All the attempts to have the cases reviewed by the courts turned out futile."- Avetik Ishkhanyan says.
The attorney believes that the life-termers had long been ignored by the government which also led to society adopting the same disposition towards them.
Avetik Ishkhanyan believes there was a special political decision to ignore the issues of life-termers and to everything to prevent their early release from prison, pardon or the review of the cases though it was a legal requirement.
Avetik Ishkhanyan in the photo
He can't think otherwise, as the changes brought about by the 2011 Criminal Code failed to consider life-termers.
On 23 May, 2011, the National Assembly of Armenia passed the law on making changes and amendments to the criminal code thus envisaging maximum punishment not exceeding 20 years of imprisonment instead of initially fixed 15 years.
The change was rationalized by Aghvan Hovsepyan, the then Prosecutor General, who said that his court experience showed that it was hard for the judges to make right decisions.
On 23 May, 2011, the National Assembly of Armenia passed the law on making changes and amendments to the criminal code thus envisaging maximum punishment not exceeding 20 years of imprisonment instead of initially fixed 15 years.
The change was rationalized by Aghvan Hovsepyan, the then Prosecutor General, who said that his court experience showed that it was hard for the judges to make right decisions.
"Our criminal policy set disproportionate differences between the maximum number of years of imprisonment and life imprisonment. Life imprisonment was imposed if the punishment had to exceed 15 years of service in prison. At present, the number of life-termers has reached 99. Again, that's a big number. In most cases, when returning the verdict we were unable to develop an individual punishment to fit the extent of crime.
Aghvan Hovsepyan
Prosecutor General of the RA (2007-2013)
" This seemed to be an obvious decision and it could be embraced but didn't this imply that those who had been sentenced to life imprisonment by this time could apply to the court to have their cases reviewed? This was a mitigating factor and the circumstances had changed. However, all the pleas got turned down." – says Avetik Ishkhanyan.
91 Life-termers
None of the life termers serving in penitentiaries in Armenia were sentenced to life imprisonment after 2013.
Valeri Permyakov, a Russian serviceman, sentenced to life on charges of murdering a family of seven people in Gyumri, is serving his sentence in Russia.
Data of 15 May, 2019 state there are currently 91 life termers serving their sentence in Armenian penitentiaries.
In EU member countries, per 100, 000 population this rate is 3.06 and is considered to be a high indicator. high indicator.
For comparison, consider France, where the proportion of citizens serving life sentences is far lower at just 0.7 per 100,000, while in Russia the rate is only 1.2 per 100,000.
The most senior life termer is 72 years old, while the youngest is 28. Armenia has never had a female life termer.
Since 2003, 6 six life termers have been released. Two of them were released under medical circumstances, as they were suffering from serious diseases. One was released on parole, the third had been involved in Mataghis case and had his verdict overturned, as the case was reopened.
25 life-termers have already served 20 years out of 25 which implies that they can be already be granted official pardon. One life-termer is still in prison after having served 27 years of imprisonment.
In 2018, 32 life termers applied for amnesty but all the pleas were turned down.
A daily amount of 11601 drams is spent to address the needs of 91 life termers.
None of the life termers serving in penitentiaries in Armenia were sentenced to life imprisonment after 2013.
Valeri Permyakov, a Russian serviceman, sentenced to life on charges of murdering a family of seven people in Gyumri, is serving his sentence in Russia.
Data of 15 May, 2019 state there are currently 91 life termers serving their sentence in Armenian penitentiaries.
In EU member countries, per 100, 000 population this rate is 3.06 and is considered to be a high indicator. high indicator.
For comparison, consider France, where the proportion of citizens serving life sentences is far lower at just 0.7 per 100,000, while in Russia the rate is only 1.2 per 100,000.
The most senior life termer is 72 years old, while the youngest is 28. Armenia has never had a female life termer.
Since 2003, 6 six life termers have been released. Two of them were released under medical circumstances, as they were suffering from serious diseases. One was released on parole, the third had been involved in Mataghis case and had his verdict overturned, as the case was reopened.
25 life-termers have already served 20 years out of 25 which implies that they can be already be granted official pardon. One life-termer is still in prison after having served 27 years of imprisonment.
In 2018, 32 life termers applied for amnesty but all the pleas were turned down.
A daily amount of 11601 drams is spent to address the needs of 91 life termers.
Life is short in prison
Life prisoner Manuk Semerjyan had served his twenty years by 2011 and applied for parole. His request was turned down, as he hadn't paid 56 000 drams, the amount required for an early release. The court did not consider his good behavior or medical condition. He was just moved to a semi-closed institution after he had served for 21 years.
He passed away a few months later on the last day of December, 2012, at the age of 45.
This was when human rights activists raised the issue of the life-termers not having any sources of income and the inability to make any payments. In this way, these people had no incentives to return to society, to improve or demonstrate any positive changes in their behavior.
The absence of work is also mentioned in the report submitted by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT). The committee expressed their concern over life termers not having employment.
Further, it remained the case that life-sentenced prisoners were not offered any out-of-cell activities other than outdoor exercise lasting 1 to 1.5 hour per day (which was now offered every day, including on weekends). There was still no access to work, education, or vocational training apart from distance learning courses, which were being followed by three life-sentenced prisonersor sports. In other words, prisoners were locked up in their cells for up to 23 hours a day, the only occupation being watching television, playing board games or reading books.
The committee published their recent report on Armenia at the end of 2016 when summarizing their October visit in 2015. The committee is planning their next visit in 2019.
Further, it remained the case that life-sentenced prisoners were not offered any out-of-cell activities other than outdoor exercise lasting 1 to 1.5 hour per day (which was now offered every day, including on weekends). There was still no access to work, education, or vocational training apart from distance learning courses, which were being followed by three life-sentenced prisonersor sports. In other words, prisoners were locked up in their cells for up to 23 hours a day, the only occupation being watching television, playing board games or reading books.
The committee published their recent report on Armenia at the end of 2016 when summarizing their October visit in 2015. The committee is planning their next visit in 2019.
Death in Numbers
Overall, there were registered 191 deaths between 2011 and 2017 in Armenian penitentiaries. 70 cases of death were caused by cardiovascular diseases. There were also 27 suicide cases.
The group of social observers that monitored the penitentiaries of the RA Ministry of Justice in 2018 have not published their report yet. However, there were 18 registered cases of death and two of the prisoners were life-termers. Another life termer has passed away this year. 10 convicts died in the first trimester. The life-termers' death was caused by cardiovascular diseases.
The image illustrates the number of the deceased life termers between 2004-2019.
"I Feel Restrained"
Was President Kocharyan's ՆՀ-103-Ա decree issued in accordance with the law?
"There was a time when I voiced my opinion on this issue as a lawyer and a human rights activist. As the present Minister of Justice, I feel restrained by my position and status to express my disposition on this issue." says Artak Zeynalyan, who was appointed to the Minister of Justice after the Velvet Revolution in 2018.
Bearing this in mind, the life termers wrote him back in June, 2018 reminding him of his disposition.
"Dear Mr. Zeynalyan,
You are one of those unique politicians endowed with a high sense of integrity , who would always speak at all times how President Kocharyan violated the law on 1 August, 2003 when commuting their execution to life imprisonment after the 'amnesty' instead of legally-envisaged 15-20 years of imprisonment".
"Dear Mr. Zeynalyan,
You are one of those unique politicians endowed with a high sense of integrity , who would always speak at all times how President Kocharyan violated the law on 1 August, 2003 when commuting their execution to life imprisonment after the 'amnesty' instead of legally-envisaged 15-20 years of imprisonment".
It is worth mentioning that by the time the 2003 presidential decree had been released, Artak Zeynalyan, attending a workshop as a member of "Hanrapetutyun" party, said the following when talking about the prisoners sentenced to death:
"… death sentence might seem fair but it's not legal. I believe law enforcement authorities should have the prosecutor appeal those verdicts and death sentencesshould be commuted to another punishment"
Conditions worsened for 42 life termers
" Granting pardon is perceived as a humane step taken by the President of the State implying that life termer will see better changes in his status, however, thepresidential decree did not introduce any changes into the life of 42 life termers, as their punishment instead of being reduced to a less severe one was made even harsher."
The president acted as the court
"....by granting pardon, the RA president through his decree passed a judicial sentence deciding on the type of punishment, something that is within the power of the court." (RA Constitution, Code of Criminal Procedure)
Breach of the Constitution and Legislation
"There have been breaches of the constitution and legislation but as reality shows, Republic of Armenia does not want to admit that the former president of Armenia made this mistake. Nor do they want to correct it. "
Individual approach to life termers
When the parliament was discussing the draft law on "Amnesty" back in 2018, Alen Simonyan, member of the parliament, asked Artak Zeynalyan, the then Minister of Justice why he had turned down the request of eleven MPs.
The MPs had written him an official letter requesting that life termers be granted an opportunity to be a part of amnesty program but their request was turned down.
In response to this question, Artak Zeynalyan said: "There will be an individual approach to life termers. The PM announced that the present government considers it wrong that life termers get released through amnesty․However, they afford the right of being released on parole and being granted an official pardon"
The minister assured that the official pardon granted on 1 November, 2018, had bypassed the life termers.
As the Prosecutor General's PressOffice reports, as of May 17, 2018 under the RA Law on Amnesty on Criminal Cases on the occasion of the 2800th Anniversary of the Foundation of Erebuni-Yerevan and the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the First Republic of Armenia, which came into force on November 1,646 convicts were released from penitentiaries and 81 of them have committed new criminal offences.
As the Prosecutor General's PressOffice reports, as of May 17, 2018 under the RA Law on Amnesty on Criminal Cases on the occasion of the 2800th Anniversary of the Foundation of Erebuni-Yerevan and the 100th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the First Republic of Armenia, which came into force on November 1,646 convicts were released from penitentiaries and 81 of them have committed new criminal offences.
Legitimate expectation
"The verdict of life imprisonment implies something conventional and the person who is sentenced to a term of life imprisonment should have a legal expectation, a legitimate expectation that some time later he should be released, he may be released.
This arises motivation to live and also to exercise lawful conduct. It is very significant since life imprisonment does not mean to make someone die in prison." – said Artak Zeynalyan, the Minister of Justice.
"Legitimate expectation" is the application of the following two legal institutions: putting on parole and the institute of pardon. This as well is the individual approach declared by our authorities, when the conduct, dangerousness, of the given detainee are being assessed.
This arises motivation to live and also to exercise lawful conduct. It is very significant since life imprisonment does not mean to make someone die in prison." – said Artak Zeynalyan, the Minister of Justice.
"Legitimate expectation" is the application of the following two legal institutions: putting on parole and the institute of pardon. This as well is the individual approach declared by our authorities, when the conduct, dangerousness, of the given detainee are being assessed.
According to Artak Zeynalyan they already have an exclusive example. During their rule, a life-termer has been put on parole who has been detained since 1996. There has not been any such precedent before.
By the way there exists a viewpoint that the life-termer Karen Oganesyan was released since the case took place in the USA and the victim's successors do not live in Armenia.
By the way there exists a viewpoint that the life-termer Karen Oganesyan was released since the case took place in the USA and the victim's successors do not live in Armenia.
The other variant for a life-termer to be released is the parole petition. There have not been any precedents of releasing a life-termer either during the rule of the previous authorities or the acting authorities.
According to the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice 32 of life-termers presented parole petition in 2018 but none of them were satisfied.
According to the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice 32 of life-termers presented parole petition in 2018 but none of them were satisfied.
That process takes place in Armenia in the following way:
Parole Commission presents the conclusion to the Prime Minister, the latter expresses his position to the President, who in his turn makes the decision.
Parole Commission presents the conclusion to the Prime Minister, the latter expresses his position to the President, who in his turn makes the decision.
"Parole decision is an individual legal act and there is no obligation to explain, comment and make clarifications on the grounds of making that decision. It is somewhat subjective and is carried out based on inner conviction."
Artak Zeynalyan
Minister of Justice of the RA (2018-2019)
Arsen Artsruni, another story of a life-termer
"We had a meeting with the Minister Zeynalyan last year in "Armavir" penitentiary institution. The minister had different attitudes towards different life-termers.
He offered one of the life-termers whose portfolio is the best among all of the life-termers, and it is exclusive (in the sense that he is not only a student of HEI, has published a poetry book, but also he has found common ground with the victim's successors and they forgave him), to write a parole petition.
But like in the absurd theatre Godot did not turn up, his petition was declined.
That is to say the Minister was convinced that in case of such life-termers it is essential to immediately solve the problem of release with the help of parole. It was encouraging for all of us.
Mr. Zeynalyan told me that he did not know about "Dro trial" and he could not advise me anything. When I looked at him in surprise he went on saying: "Did you find common ground with the victims?"
My answer was that a dialogue between me and the victims' successors should be initiated by the parole system and not me as like other life-termers being detained in prison
My answer was that a dialogue between me and the victims' successors should be initiated by the parole system and not me as like other life-termers being detained in prison
I am not able to find out their whereabouts, and how I could get in touch with them, whether they would like to remember that traumatic period of their life, particularly when during the days of the parole trial, when they were invited to court, they did not appear, consequently, it should be regarded as they would not mind if I would be released.
when they were invited to court, they did not appear, consequently, it should be regarded as they would not mind if I would be released.whether they would like to remember that traumatic period of their life, particularly when during the days of the parole trial, when they were invited to court, they did not appear, consequently, it should be regarded as they would not mind if I would be released.
Based on such behavior of the Minister I could conclude only one thing that I am a part of the list of those detainees who are destined to confinement and death in prison.
Arsen Artsruni
a life-termer
Anyway, I decided to present my parole petition to Mr. Pashinyan and addressed a well-argued application last October. Indeed, I wanted to believe that something has changed in Armenia.
But alongside with the others my application was turned down on no grounds at all."
But alongside with the others my application was turned down on no grounds at all."
Public authorities violated our rights
Arsen Artsruni made an official statementafter his application was turned down, but in case of another life-termer Mher Yenoqyan, the public got to know about the parole petition just at the very beginning of the process. Information leakage became a topic for discussion on the internet thus causing deep psychological trauma to the wife of the detainee, as her personal life appeared in the limelight of the social media.
Zaruhi and Mher in the court
Zaruhi Mejlumyan suffered the same psychological pain caused by the denial of her husband's parole and the information leakage.
"Such violation of human rights is first of all illegal; secondly, it was incited by only one person. It was not a public response, as it was attempted to be presented but a campaign run by numerous fake social network profiles,"- she said.
She believes the state had to guarantee the confidentiality of the matter. "The public authorities violated our rights, nevertheless they did not even attempt an official investigation to discover the motives behind the leakageto exclude similar situations in the future."
"Besides,the senior parole officials should have studied the facts, achievements describing the personality of the detainee: family, education, work, books, awards in journalistic and literary competitions, instead they gave in to the campaign unleashed by some political subtext which was against human rights."
Zaruhi Mejlumyan
the wife of a life-termer
By the way,following this story, Zaruhi Mejlumyan founded her own organization "Your defender"a few months later. The organizationaddresses the matters of criminal justice and targets judicial mistakes.
Reason for no official investigation
"We can't rely on an assumption what would happen if…",- the Minister of Justice replies to the announcement of Mher Yenoqyan's wife, who claims that public pressure affected the process which should have been confidential, - "A number of parole petitions relating to life-termers have been discussed and decisions have been made in their regard. There has been no such campaign, and there is no petition approved."
"It is difficult to predict based on assumptions." – says Artak Zeynalyan, despite the opinion that the information leakage affected the whole process.
Concerning the information leakage relating to the petitions the Minister mentions that there is a gap in legislative regulations here: "Currently we are working to keep confidential information as legitimate interest."
An official investigation has not been carried out as, according to him, it would have made sense only in case of corresponding full-fledged legal regulations.
Concerning the information leakage relating to the petitions the Minister mentions that there is a gap in legislative regulations here: "Currently we are working to keep confidential information as legitimate interest."
An official investigation has not been carried out as, according to him, it would have made sense only in case of corresponding full-fledged legal regulations.
Artak Zeynalyan in the photo
In response to criticism, the Minister gives the following example.
The number of short-term and long-term visits for life-termers has been doubled. There is an opportunity to provide at least 6 short-term and 2 long-term visits during the year.
The number of short-term and long-term visits for life-termers has been doubled. There is an opportunity to provide at least 6 short-term and 2 long-term visits during the year.
Taboo or victim's interest
The Constitutional Court mentioned in one of its decisions that within common legislative policy framework of release from punishment, compensation of damage caused to the victim by the crime is not considered as a crucial prerequisite without which it is impossible to release a person from punishment. In this context, the compensation of the damage (caused to the victim by the crime) is not a crucial prerequisite for the detainee to be put on parole while serving their sentence.
The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Armenia in the photo
Nevertheless, life-termers claim that in their case it is the victim's rights that are always put forward.
Life-termer Arsen Artsruni suspects there are criminal cases which have developed a taboosaround not changing attitudes towards life-termers. He considers the case of "October 27th" to be one of them. Just a reminder that on October 27, 1999, at 17:00 5 armed men headed by Nairi Hunanyan broke into the session hall of the Armenian Parliament and shot Karen Demirchyan , the speaker of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, other officials and MPs. They were sentenced to life imprisonment.
Life-termer Arsen Artsruni suspects there are criminal cases which have developed a taboosaround not changing attitudes towards life-termers. He considers the case of "October 27th" to be one of them. Just a reminder that on October 27, 1999, at 17:00 5 armed men headed by Nairi Hunanyan broke into the session hall of the Armenian Parliament and shot Karen Demirchyan , the speaker of the National Assembly, Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, other officials and MPs. They were sentenced to life imprisonment.
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"Because of October 27 case, maybe there are other cases as well, but there is a kind of a taboo that no positive attitude should be allowed towards life-termers. You could tell me, of course, that there are a lot ofsevere crimes and they should not be released, but there is no reason to mix everything together. The law says that an individual approach should be applied, and the application of individual approach is the whole process of parole. These people deal with so much paperwork, analyse those items one by one, mark them, draft their paper and after hard worksubmit it to the department, and the department comes up with a negative response. Why is this so? Nobody knows."
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"When serving the sentence in the context of parole, within the framework of Criminal Procedure Code, taking into account victim's best interests, we have predicted that within the scope of the discussion of this matter the victim should as well be a mandatory participant in court. If upon notification, the victimdoes not appear in court, the case can still be discussed. Nevertheless, we have predicted that the victim by exercisingtheir legal interest can become part of that trial and voicetheir opinion."
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After the verdict is passed, the victim should not have any problem relating to the further fate of the detainee; it is already a state matter. The state should think about the victimsby providing psychological, if required financial assistance to them, but it should never be concerned about the detainee's future.
90s were hell for life-termers
"If we compare life in prison today with that of 90s, we shall see a great difference since in the 90s people got just killed in prisons. You will be terrified if you read the stories of life-termersor justhear them speaking of those times. They were treated like in their worst nightmares. And this can be another argument in favour of their release, as the 90s were mere torture and hell for them.
| RA Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice states that 19 life-termers died in RA penitentiaries between 01.03.2003 and 01.05.2019. For 10 of them, capital punishment was commuted to life imprisonment. In accord with the RA CPC Article 432, a person can be released if a serious disease impedes his service. One of the two released prisoners, Soghomon Kocharyan, passed away just after a month of his release. Another life-termer Vahagn Marukyan who was released at the end of 2018 suffers from mobility problems. He turned to court to havehis case re-opened. 30 out of former life-termers are serving their sentences in RA correctional institutions. |
Avetik Ishkhanyan would forgive …
Advocate Avetik Ishkhanyan thinks that the new governmentin Armenia also followed the public opinion and not humanism and law; they ignored life-termers when declaring amnesty.
If Avetik Ishkhanyanwere among those who made decisions, he would certainly putthe following three groups of life-termers on parole list:
1
Life-termers sentenced to life imprisonment under Robert Kocharyan's decree;
2
Life-termers who had received their sentence by 2011 since to the Criminal Code stated the maximum term not to exceed 15 years;
3
Life-termers who were sentenced to life imprisonment before they turned 21.
As of May 1, 2019, 20 out of 91 life-termers who are serving their terms in RAcorrectional institutions committed crime before they turned 21.
He would even regard the representatives of the last group as victims if they had been sentenced for a crime committed during their military service.
"We had two types of victims in the army: dead and those who caused that death, both fall victims to army morale." –the advocatesays.
He believes in the necessity of making some changes to our Criminal Code and states that the minimum age for life imprisonment should be 21.
New challenges for new officials
The question of the constitutionality of Robert Kocharyan's infamous decree will be left open since there is noConstitutional Court decision.
"The Constitutional Court can put an end to this question, can make it come to a full stop in this particular complicated lawsuit, a legal full stop. This is a legal debate, it has brought forward a complicated lawsuit, and I think it should be addressed as soon as possible, since it is a matter of legitimacy." -says Zaruhi Mejlumyan, president of the law firm "Your defender".
"In the Constitutional Court, only normative legal acts could become a matter of dispute presented by the human rights defender. Consequently he can't litigate the President's individual act on commuting capital punishmentto life imprisonment." –says Arman Tatoyan, the human rights defender of the RA.
As of June 1, 2019, the HRD did not have any written applications from life-termers.
Arman Tatoyan in the photo.
The president of the law firm "Your defender" thinks that the human rights defendercould want to turn to the Constitutional Court.
"An individual legal act has been performed but we can state it had an impact of a normative act since it affected 42people, didn't it? Therefore, it goes without saying that it doesn't make sense to talk about individuality."
The Constitutional Court can decide on the compatibility of the presidential decree with the Constitution. It is defined by the State Basic Law Article 168 part 1 and the President, the Government and 1/5 of all of the Members of Parliament can apply to the Constitutional Court on that matter.
That is to say it is required to have signatures of 27 MPs, though none of the two non-ruling fractions of the National Assembly of the 7th legislature has that number of MPs. 26 MPs represent "Prosperous Armenia" fraction and 18 MPs are in "Bright Armenia". 88 out of 132 seats belong to "My step" fraction.
"Taking into account that more than 27 MPs should apply, the opposition representatives of "PA" and "BA" most likely will not apply since they would not like to be criticized by different social layers."
Concerning the MPs of "My step" fraction we can say that it depends on Nikol Pashinyan's wish. If he wishes, they will apply to the Constitutional Court. But whether he wants this or not, I can't say."
Avetik Ishkhanyan
President of Helsinki Committee of Armenia.
Life-termer Arsen Artsruni who has been in prison for already 25 years directs his question to the Armenian authorities and wants to know what he should do to make the corresponding article of the law finally come into force for his case:
"A person sentenced to life imprisonment may be recommended for conditional releasewhen he has not had any penalties for malicious breaches of the prescribed procedure throughout the past five years of his service- and has served no less than twenty years of imprisonment."
(RA Penal Code Article 116. Guidelines for conditional release for life termers)
(RA Penal Code Article 116. Guidelines for conditional release for life termers)
"No life-termer knows what to do to get released as unlike life-termers all the rest of the prisoners get released after serving their term. Even after 22 years they get released. Their term comes to end and they get released. In case of life-termers, it is not clear. Now I want to know precisely what I should do…
If there is a stone weighing 100 kg which I should carry, I'd better start doing physical exercises to be able to carry it."
If there is a stone weighing 100 kg which I should carry, I'd better start doing physical exercises to be able to carry it."
Arsen Artsruni in the photo
Rustam Badasyan, the newly-appointed minister, (19.06.19) has only promised to continue making reforms in the judicial system following the Government agenda. He mentioned not having been familiar with the problems of life-termers at the time of his appointment.
Life-termer Arsen Artsruni couldn't receive the answer to his question from the Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan, who had promised some changes in the field.
The Minister resigned on June 7 having been in the postfor over a year.
The Minister resigned on June 7 having been in the postfor over a year.
What did Artak Zeynalyan manage to do in this sphere?
During his time in the post, the service terms for seven life-termers were made less harsh: they were moved from a closed correctional institution to a semi-closed one, this means that they don't spend 23 hours in confinement.
As of January 1, 2019, 76 life-termers serve in closed correctional institutions, and 15 of them in semi-closed ones.
Still there is not a single life-termer who has been moved even if not to an open but at least to a semi-open correctional institution. Just a quick reminder that the change of the isolation level of a life-termer is preconditioned by the regime type.
During Artak Zeynalyan's time in the post, asignificant legislative change was initiated which came into force on June 29 when Rustam Badasyan was already the minister.
During Artak Zeynalyan's time in the post, asignificant legislative change was initiated which came into force on June 29 when Rustam Badasyan was already the minister.
Artak Zeynalyan had already resigned when PresidentArmen Sargsyan signed the law "On making changes and supplements to the Penal Code of the Republic of Armenia" on June 13.
What the new law envisions?
Particularly, in case of positive behavior a life-termer:
from 20 to 15
- May be moved from a closed correctional institution to a semi-closed one when serving at least 15 years of the sentence instead of 20 years
from 25 to 18
- May be moved from a semi-closed correctional institution to a semi-open one after serving not 25 years but 18 years.
After serving at least 20 years
- May be moved from a semi-open correctional institution to an open one after serving at least 20 years of the term (this was not provided for by the acting law)
Life-termers will be gradually moved to a correctional institution with a lower level of isolation, consequently, when the law comes into force, after the term expires, 76 detainees can apply to be moved to a semi-closed correctional institution and 15 of them to a semi-open one.
No life-termer out of 91 can apply to be moved to an open correctional institution.
No life-termer out of 91 can apply to be moved to an open correctional institution.
According to the RA PenalCode Article 101: The type of correctional institution for executing the sentence shall be changed by the Distribution Commission within the Central Body of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia with regard to the behaviour demonstrated by the person sentenced to a certain term or life imprisonment, the appropriateness of the degree of isolation and the requirements of separate confinement of convicts in correctional institutions.
the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia
A few months ago, life-termer Arsen Artsruni applied with a request to change the regime from semi-closed to semi-open, but his request was turned down.
After these legislative changes come into force, he can be moved to a semi-open correctional institution which means that he will be moved from a cell to a residential unit for up to six people, in the envisaged territory of the correctional institution he can move not just for three hours but during the daytime.
Arsen Artsruni in the photo
Irrespective of the authorities' attitude, the life-termer was trained for a psychologist in prison and continues his post-graduate studies in "Urartu" university, getting ready to earn his PhD.
The theme of hisPhD thesisis the psychometrics of the detainees. He assures that the courts will be more objective if they take into consideration this factor when returning verdicts.
By the way, the authorities of the correctional institution did not let us see the cell which he shares with another life-termer Ashot Manukyan. Ashot Manukyan is also doing a distance course on psychology.
The cell is designated for four people but there are only two of them. Arsen Artsruni jokes that there are so many books here that there is not enough space.
The life-termer has a huge library,but not a favourite book.
He says, "Different books provide different meaningson different days".
The cell is designated for four people but there are only two of them. Arsen Artsruni jokes that there are so many books here that there is not enough space.
The life-termer has a huge library,but not a favourite book.
He says, "Different books provide different meaningson different days".
Author: Karine Asatryan
Cameraman: Hovhannes Karapetyan
VIdeo editor: Hranush Arabyan
Photo: "A1+"TV, "Photolur"
This production was supported by the OPEN Media Hub with funds provided by the EU.
Cameraman: Hovhannes Karapetyan
VIdeo editor: Hranush Arabyan
Photo: "A1+"TV, "Photolur"
This production was supported by the OPEN Media Hub with funds provided by the EU.
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