According to data provided to lawyer Armine Fanyan, crime rate has increased in Armenia after amnesty. “There has been a growth in crime rate, and different representative data has proven this,” the lawyer told reporters.
“This has even been noted in individuals who have committed more serious crimes. If the state had accepted this act on such a wide level, then it should have also worked on programs to teach these people how to become a part of society again, since the person who has been looking for a job for a while and can’t find one will once again follow the path to being a criminal. And we have not created programs to reintroduce people to society. What happens is that the likelihood of those people being arrested again is very high,” Fanyan said.
According to the lawyer, crimes are being committed against property, which shows that the rise in crime is connected to socioeconomic conditions.
Armine Fanyan also spoke about pressure placed on lawyers. “There is public pressure and that is mainly in connection to cases provided to lawyers that are highly intolerable by society. It is also dependent on the role the lawyer plays and the understanding of the meaning of the case. Any intolerance against lawyers is considered to be a form of surrender on the path to developing a legal state.”
Arpine Simonyan
