Armenia amends law to amnesty draft evaders

YEREVAN, May 6. /ARKA/. The Armenian parliament has approved today a set of amendments to the law on amnestying persons who evade mandatory military or alternative service, training camps or mobilization conscription in the second and final reading.

According to Deputy Minister of Justice Armen Hovhannisyan, the changes are aimed at providing draft evaders (who are outside Armenia) with an opportunity to return to their homeland and contribute to the economic and social development of the country.

He added that the decision is also meant to mitigate the consequences of the last autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Under the law, evasion of mandatory military service is a crime that is punished with a fine in the amount of 300 to 500 minimal salaries, or arrest for a term of up to two months, or imprisonment for a term of up to two years.

In particular, the amnesty applies to privates who have reached their 27th birthday and reserve officers who turned 35 by the time the amended law enters into force.

According to the deputy minister, the amnesty will cover as many as 5,131 citizens and 124 convicts, who turned 27 years old as of September 26, 2020. He said the amnesty will apply to all those military dodgers who will voluntarily turn up to the authorities before December 31, 2021.

The overwhelming majority of people wanted by the law enforcement agencies of Armenia - 90% and more- are military service dodgers and actually all of them are outside the country.

According to a previous law that was in effect for more than 10 years, draft evaders could return to the country by paying a hefty fine. Later, this law was canceled. -0-