Life-termer appealed to Court of Criminal Appeals
The Court of Criminal Appeals (Judge Mher Arghamanyan) will hear Monday a complaint by life-termer Manuk Semerjyan against a Yerevan court.
Semerjyan is disputing the decision of Court of General Jurisdiction of Erebuni and Nubarashen administrative districts which rejected the life-termer's complaint against the administrative commission of the Nubarashen penitentiary. The complaint was against the decision of the commission to postpone the discussion of the issue of Semerjyan's parole for another year.
Manuk Semerjyan, convict of the RA Ministry of Justice Nubarashen penitentiary, was found guilty by the verdict of the RA Supreme Court panel of judges on criminal cases of 12.03.1993 in the murder of 4 people (the murder occurred in Ukraine). He was sentenced to death with confiscation of all personal property. Later death penalty was replaced with life sentence. Semerjyan claims that he killed only two people and assumed the responsibility for the other two murders to serve the punishment in Armenia.
Before presenting his complaint, by March 10, 2011, Manuk Semerjyan had served 20 years, 1 month and 8 days in prison. 20 years is the term after which life prisoners can use their right of parole if they had served the last five years without disciplinary penalties. Semerjyan is the first life-termer to exercise the right, which can serve as a precedent for other life prisoners.
As of January 1, 2011, there are 99 life-termers in Armenia.
