ArmInfo.Nairi Hunanyan will most likely remain behind bars. This opinion was expressed by the Minister of Justice of Armenia Rustam Badasyan on October 23 during a government hour commenting on the request of Nairi Hunanyan on parole.
According to him, several scenarios are possible in connection with the issue. "The first scenario: if both the Probation Service and the Prison Service, in theory, give a positive opinion, the corresponding petition is submitted to the court. If one of the two structures gives a positive opinion and one negative, then with the written consent of the convicted person, the issue can be discussed in court," he explained.
If both structures give a negative conclusion, the discussion of the issue is considered rejected. "In this case, the Prison Service has already given a negative conclusion. Given that the Probation Service will be guided by the same criteria, I think that the conclusion is clear," the minister said.
To recall, earlier an Armenian journalist, a former member of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun Nairi Hunanyan, who led the attack on the Armenian parliament in 1999, sent a request for parole. As the head of the public relations department of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Nona Navikyan said, he filed an application for early release about two weeks ago and it is now under consideration. She recalled that he had the right to do so, since according to the legislation of the Republic of Armenia, after 20 years of serving a sentence, a person sentenced to life imprisonment can send such a request. The issue regarding the statement of Hunanyan will be resolved in the manner prescribed by law - in the 80-day period.
It should be noted that Hunanyan was sentenced to life imprisonment and is serving a sentence in the Yerevan Kentron colony. On October 27, 1999, a group of terrorists burst into parliament and shot and killed the Prime Minister of Armenia Vazgen Sargsyan, the Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Karen Demirchyan, the Vice-Speakers Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, the Minister of Operational Affairs Leonard Petrosyan and the lawmakers Armenak Armenakyan, Mikael Kotanyan and Henrik Abrahamyan.
The terrorist group included former journalist Nairi Hunanyan, who worked for some time on television in Armenia, his brother Karen Hunanyan, their uncle Vram Galstyan, as well as Derenik Bejanyan and Ashot Knyazyan. Their trial began on February 15, 2001. On December 2, 2003, the Center-Nork-Marash trial court sentenced Nairi and Karen Hunanyan brothers, Edik Grigoryan, Vram Galstyan (in 2004, according to the official version, committed suicide), Derenik Bejanyan and Ashot Knyazyan to lifeimprisonment. Hamlet Stepanyan was sentenced to 14 years in prison (in May 2010, his body was found in his bed at the Nubarashen detention center). All seven were found guilty of treason and terrorism.