Various parliamentary factions stated their support...

Various parliamentary factions stated their support for the abolition of the death penalty at a parliamentary briefing, however all said that an exception must be made for the terrorists accused of the October 27, 1999 attack on the Armenian Parliament.
The terrorist act resulted in the death of the Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, the Chairman of the RA National Assembly Karen Demirchyan, both vice-speakers, a minister and three deputies. The judicial proceedings against the terrorists commenced February 15, 2001, and are still underway.
Armenia is planning to consider the ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights and its 6th protocol on the abolition of the death penalty at one of the forthcoming parliamentary sessions. The ratification of the Convention is one of obligations assumed by Armenia on entry to the Council of Europe.
The Unity faction, the Armenian parliamentary majority, is for the abolition of capital punishment in Armenia, leader Galust Sahakyan stated. Capital punishment should remain in force for those accused of "October 27" case, according to him. "The Council of Europe is against the exclusions like this but we are going to continue our work with CE and to substantiate our position," Sahakyan stated.
The leader of Legal State (Orinats Erkir) Arthur Bagdasaryan said it is necessary to abolish the death penalty.
The Legal State faction has always linked the future of Armenia with European values, according to him. As to the terrorists accused of October 27 case then "it is a special case and the officials presenting Armenia in Europe should explain the reason why Armenia is trying to achieve an exception".
The Armenia Deputy Group is for abolition of the death penalty in Armenia, leader Myasnik Malkhasyan stated. He said that the group will vote for the abolition of the capital punishment provided that it remains in force for the accused of "October 27 " case.
"If no exceptions are made we shall definitely vote against the abolition", Malkhasyan stated.
The death penalty in Armenia should be abolished only after making amendments to the RA Criminal Code that stipulate life imprisonment, the leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktutyun) said.
The Right and Unity faction will vote against the abolition of the capital punishment, the head of the faction Artashes Geghamyan said. He stated that the world situation seriously changed after the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S.A. and many countries that had abolished capital punishment earlier, have reinstated the measure.
"It is necessary to punish terrorism and in this aspect Armenia should keep step with the world processes," Geghamyan noted.
The Communist Party is against the abolition of the death penalty, Frunzeh Kharatyan, a member of the faction, said at the briefing. He expressed his belief that the abolition of death penalty will result in the worsening of situation.
"The Communist Party is against a blind imitation of the European laws in Armenia," he declared.