ARMAN BABAJANYAN’S ATTORNEY MET WITH SERGE SARGSYAN
Lragir, Armenia
Dec 7 2006
Zaruhi Postanjyan, the attorney of Arman Babajanyan, Editor-in-Chief
of the Zhamanak Yerevan Newspaper, sentenced to 4 years on a charge
of forging documents and avoiding military service, met with the
defense minister Serge Sargsyan in connection with her defendant.
Zaruhi Postanjyan told about this meeting in a news conference on
December 7.
The attorney met with the minister of defense in connection with Arman
Babajanyan’s application to the ministry requesting to apply the law
adopted in 2005. This law suspends prosecution of persons aged 27
and up who avoided military service from 1992 to 2005. These persons
are not prosecuted if they pay a certain fee. The fee is 100 thousand
drams for every conscription. For Arman Babajanyan, the total number
of conscriptions is 10, and he has already paid a 1 million dram fine.
Meanwhile, the ministry of defense has not attended to his request
yet. The special commission led by the minister is to discuss the
request, but the deadline of considering it and making a decision
has passed, and the commission has not decided to reject or meet it.
Therefore, Zaruhi Postanjyan initiated this meeting with Serge
Sargsyan to find out if the commission is going to attend to the
application and make a decision for the counsel of defense to know
what steps to take. Serge Sargsyan said the commission will attend to
the case. However, Zaruhi Postanjyan did not speak with the minister
on the reason of this delay, for her aim was to ask to discuss the
application and make a decision.
Zaruhi Postanjyan also says that there is discrimination in the
approach of the office of the public prosecutor towards Arman
Babajanyan, which investigated the case. The attorney says, in
accordance with the law, the agency investigating the case must request
to apply the abovementioned law providing for stopping prosecution
if the fee is paid. The office of the public prosecutor failed to do
this, whereas fining a person is more favorable for the state than
putting a person to prison, says the attorney.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
