News - HayaKve initiative submits its draft law to Armenia parliament

The HayaKve initiative has submitted its bill to the National Assembly (NA) proposing amendments to the Criminal Code of Armenia in order to impose a penalty of 10-15 years in prison for officials who recognize Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) as part of Azerbaijan on behalf of Armenia, and who deny the Armenian Genocide. Earlier we reported that the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia confirmed the validity of the signatures submitted by the initiative. The initiative group had 60 days to collect signatures, from June 21 to August 19 inclusive, but HayaKve's signature campaign ended on August 5, as 58,000 signatures had already been collected. Avetik Chalabyan, coordinator of the initiative, spoke with reporters and addressed the question they are often asked as to how relevant this draft law is after the complete occupation of Artsakh by Azerbaijan and the Armenian ethnic cleansing carried out there. "We believe that it is more than relevant, as what happened in Artsakh is a gross violation of international law. Artsakh has been a subject of international law, it has been a negotiating party for decades, there were Madrid principles developed by the co-chairs of the [OSCE] Minsk Group. So Artsakh, as a subject of international law, cannot disappear in one day as a result of ethnic cleansing," he said. Chalabyan is confident that if the NA majority votes against this bill, it will become an accomplice to Azerbaijan's genocidal actions against the people of Artsakh. Commenting on what is expected of this draft law after entering the NA, Chalabyan noted that according to the law, the NA speaker must sign the bill to the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, the latter must hold relevant hearings, collect proposals, and based on this, it must hold a debate on this bill. According to him, this will probably take one to 1.5 months. "I hope that serious changes will take place during that time, which will prove once again that the process we have started is absolutely contemporary, it gives Armenia an additional footing so that we protect our sovereignty and the natural rights of the people of Artsakh," said the HayaKve initiative coordinator. The draft law of the HayaKve initiative must be passed by a majority vote of MPs in the NA.