President Serzh Sarkisian may yet declare a general amnesty for dozens of
opposition supporters arrested following last February’s disputed presidential
election, a parliament deputy from the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun)
said on Tuesday.



The Armenian authorities have been under international pressure to release most
of those detainees, and an amnesty is seen by many as a face-saving solution for
both them and opposition forces led by former President Levon Ter-Petrosian.
Some government loyalists fueled rumors in late September that Sarkisian is
ready to pardon the jailed oppositionists.



However, the president has so far confounded those expectations, granting
individual pardons only to a handful of opposition activists who confessed to
controversial accusations leveled against them. Also, law-enforcement
authorities subordinated to him have pressed ahead with the trial of seven of
the most prominent detainees charged with plotting a coup d’etat. The trial is
scheduled to start on Friday.



“A general amnesty is a manifestation of general humanism, and I don’t exclude
that the president of the republic will resort to that step,” said Artsvik
Minasian, a Dashnaktsutyun lawmaker sitting on a parliamentary commission
investigating the post-election unrest in Yerevan. “It’s important that that
step be speedy and thought-out.”



Minasian, whose party is represented Sarkisian’s coalition government, told
reporters that such a move would help to defuse lingering political tensions in
the country. He also stressed that opposition detainees would not have to plead
guilty in order to qualify for a general amnesty.



Some government officials and politicians have made a different interpretation
of Armenia’s relevant laws, saying that an admission of guilt is a necessary
condition for the oppositionists’ release.



Sarkisian discussed on Tuesday the fate of the individuals regarded as political
prisoners by the opposition with Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, the visiting
secretary general of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
The presidential press service gave no further details.



The issue was also on the agenda of Brichambaut’s meeting with Ter-Petrosian
held later in the day. A statement by Ter-Petrosian’s office said they
specifically talked about the approaching trial of the seven opposition leaders.
“Both sides noted the importance of deepening democratic processes in Armenia,”
it said.