Who and Why Does Not Forgive War Participants. The Amnesty Process Has Been Halted

According to information from the newspaper "Joghout", the draft law on "Amnesty" proposed by the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia has been suspended. It should be noted that last year, the RA government intended to grant amnesty to those citizens who participated in the 44-day war and are being prosecuted for offenses against military service regulations.

Furthermore, the proposed draft law emphasized the importance of recognizing citizens who stood alongside the armed forces of Armenia, highlighting that it demonstrated a humanitarian approach towards individuals who committed crimes against military service regulations. Although no statistics were mentioned, and it was unclear how many individuals would be covered by the amnesty if adopted, the draft stated that amnesty would be granted both to those suspected, accused, or convicted of minor and medium gravity offenses committed until the onset of the war on September 26, as well as to servicemen convicted of offenses against military service regulations between the cessation of hostilities on November 9 and March 24.

The newspaper clarified that over 1,600 criminal cases were initiated in connection with the 44-day war. It is worth noting that the last amnesty occurred in 2018, declared in connection with the 2800th anniversary of the founding of Erebuni-Yerevan and the 100th anniversary of the independence proclamation of the First Armenian Republic. According to the Prosecutor General's Office, more than 4,600 people were pardoned at that time, and now the amnesty process has been halted indefinitely. The reasons for this suspension, the directives behind it, and the political motivations remain unclear.

Moreover, it should be noted that the war participants did not maliciously evade accountability; in many cases, they simply fled to save themselves from drone strikes, and thus prosecuting them does not seem entirely fair.

The complete article can be found in today's issue of the newspaper.