Armenia decides to early relieve convicted oppositionist Baregamyan

The commission on CER (conditional early relief) has decided to apply this measure to the oppositional activist Aram Baregamyan. Today, the respective documents have been sent to the penitentiary institutions "Razdan", where Baregamyan is serving his sentence.

It is expected that the process of releasing Baregamyan will take about three weeks. After a positive response from the "Razdan", the commission will present a petition on his CER to the court of general jurisdiction of the Razdan Region. This was stated by the oppositional Armenian National Congress (ANC).

Aram Baregamyan, head of the electoral office of Levon Ter-Petrosyan, a presidential candidate of the opposition at the 2008 election, in the city of Razdan, was arrested on March 9, 2008, and then sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment under the articles of "violence against an official" (Article 316) and "intentional harm to one's health" (Article 112) of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

Razmik Zograbyan, an MP and vice-chairman of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, said in his comment on the decision to release Aram Baregamyan that other political prisoners would be also set free. "The order of releasing convicted oppositionists depends on the terms of their imprisonment," he said.