Armenia's outgoing prosecutor general suggests amending constitution to allow death penalty for treason
YEREVAN, September 1. /ARKA/. Armenia's outgoing Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan suggested amending the country's Constitution to allow the death penalty for treason.
Death penalty has not been completely annulled in Armenia. A de-facto moratorium on executions is in effect based on the president's constitutional right to issue a pardon. According to the official data, no death sentence has been executed in Armenia since 1991.
The Criminal Code of Armenia envisages capital punishment for such crimes as treason, espionage, terrorism, crimes against the state, banditry and some others.
Davtyan says his proposal, posted on the website of the Prosecutor General's Office, is prompted by the need to strengthen the legal fight against treason and tighten the punitive policy, especially against the backdrop of the current security challenges in the region.
"Research of several criminal proceedings, instituted on cases of treason committed during the 44-day war in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) and after it reveals frequent cases of treason, recruitment and involvement of Armenian citizens by enemy’s special services," Davtyan says.
In his opinion, there is a need to apply the severest punishment, up to the death penalty, to those who have committed the above-mentioned acts.
"The Prosecutor's Office has examined Armenia’s international obligations in this area and found that the country has no direct international legal obligation to establish an absolute ban on the death penalty," Davtyan pointed out.
The basic ban on the death penalty is stipulated by Part 3 of Article 24 of the Constitution. The aforementioned norm is of imperative nature, that is, this prohibition can be overcome only by making appropriate amendments to the Constitution.
At the same time, Article 76 of the Constitution stipulates that during a state of emergency or martial law, derogations from human rights obligations are possible within the framework of international commitments.
Taking into account these realities and security threats posed by treason, Davtyan sent a letter with his proposal to Justice Minister Karen Andreasyan, who is also Chairman of the Constitutional Reform Council. -0-
