Armenian government to shut down two prisons

YEREVAN, October 28. /ARKA/. The Armenian Government decided today to shut down two penitentiary institutions in Kosh and Hrazdan.

Justice Minister Karen Andreasyan said this decision will save the government 1.2 billion drams in 2022.

"This is a very important start for further reforming the penal system," he said.

Andreasyan said after the closure of these two prisons, there will remain 10 penitentiary institutions in the country, and if conditions and management improve, the system will be further streamlined and serious problems with human rights and a number of important issues related to the workers of the system will be solved.

"Today, Armenian prisons can accommodate 5,346 inmates, but we have only 2,113. Almost all penitentiaries are half-empty. This, of course, is a consequence of a number of reforms and serious work in the field of criminal justice done in recent years," he said.

For comparison, the minister noted that if several years ago there were 4,530 arrested and convicted persons in the country, now their number has dropped to 2,113.

He said also that 280 prison jobs will be cut. ‘This may cause some discontent, but there is a problem of vetting in penitentiary institutions. Of these 280 people, 70 will be given jobs in other penitentiary institutions, 50 workers will be transferred to the probation service, and the rest - to the personnel reserve," he said ($1 - 477.31 drams). -0-