Proposal to Maintain Salary Scale for Captured Servicemen

The National Assembly of Armenia has adopted in the first reading a draft law on amendments to the Republic of Armenia law on "Military Service and the Status of Servicemen." According to Armenpress, the law, authored by Mikitar Hayrapetyan, a member of the "My Step" faction, proposes to maintain the salary scale for servicemen who are in captivity.

“According to current legislation, if a serviceman is captured, he is relieved of his military position and is placed in the personnel division of the relevant state body. Another article of the same law defines all the grounds under which a serviceman retains their salary scale while remaining in the personnel division. Unfortunately, there is a legislative gap here, where the grounds for a serviceman to retain their salary scale in cases of captivity are missing,” said Hayrapetyan.

Hayrapetyan noted that as a result of this legislative gap, serious issues arise regarding the livelihood of the servicemen's families, and this contradicts the state policy aimed at ensuring the legal and social guarantees of servicemen.

“Contract servicemen and reserves who find themselves in captivity during combat operations, when such captivity is not a consequence or cause of illegal actions—meaning it is proven that they were captured during combat and did not leave their position or unit voluntarily—will continue to receive the same financial support that their families have been receiving during their captivity. The main goal of this initiative is to maintain the salary scale for those servicemen who are in captivity,” emphasized Mikitar Hayrapetyan.