Armenia changing Criminal Code to punish quarantine violatorsMarch 20, 2020 - 23:37 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - The National Assembly convened an extraordinary meeting on Friday, March 20 evening to discuss a draft package of amendments to the Criminal Code of Armenia. The country declared a 30-day state of emergency on March 16 and banned citizens of 16 nations from entering the country. The draft package was approved in first reading. Deputy Justice Minister Vahe Danielyan said the rights of people are restricted under the state of emergency, but the law does not stipulate legal liability. If the measure is approved for good, violation of the requirements of isolation or self-isolation during the state of emergency will result in an administrative liability of 300-500 times the minimum wage. Violation of restrictions on the publication or dissemination of information, meanwhile, will result in the imposition of a fine in the amount of 50-300 times the minimum wage, the Deputy Justice Minister said. According to Danielyan, the Criminal Code will be amended too to allow the imposition of arrest for up to 3 months or incarceration for up to 5 years in the event of violation of the requirements of isolation or self-isolation that has negligently caused mass infection of people. The second reading is scheduled for Monday, March 23. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Armenia has grown to reach 136 as of Friday, March 20 morning․ So far, one person has recovered from the coronavirus in Armenia. Top stories The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has visited the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the Defense Ministry reported on March 18. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |