The Self-Determination Union party favours abolishing...

The Self-Determination Union party favours abolishing the death penalty in Armenia, the party's leader, Paruyr Hayrikyan, said at a meeting of the heads of the party's regional branches.
He said he is perplexed by the Armenian Apostolic Church's silence on the issue. It is surprising that many representatives of a people having just celebrated the 1,700th anniversary of Christianity in this country persist in demanding to break one of the main Christian postulates "do not kill" as "even a beast has the right to live and rejoices at being spared," Hayrikyan said.
Regarding the terrorists accused of the 1999 attack on the Armenian parliament Hayrikyan said that the people calling for their execution are the same ones who insist that the defendants were "backed" by others.
"How can one shoot down the Hunanyan terrorist group and at the same time learn the truth about the crime in the parliament," Hayrikyan said.