Court of Criminal Appeals rejects lifer’s appeal
The Court of Criminal Appeals (Judge Mher Arghamanyan) upheld the ruling of a Yerevan court on delaying lifer Manuk Semerjyan's parole for another year.
Semerjyan was disputing the decision of Court of General Jurisdiction of Erebuni and Nubarashen administrative districts which rejected the lifer's complaint against the administrative commission of the Nubarashen penitentiary which, in its turn, rejected Semerjyan's conditional early release.
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 the appeal, lifer Manuk Semerjyan had been in prison for 20 years, 1 month, 8 days as of 10.03.2011. 20 years of sentence is the period, after which the convict can use his right to parole, if he had served the last 5 years of conviction without disciplinary penalties. Semerjyan was the first life-termer to exercise the right, which, if satisfied, would become a precedent for other life prisoners.
Semerjyan's attorney Narine Rshtuni was angered by the fact that Semerjyan's parole was viewed as highly risky, besides Semerjyan is considered to be an inmate with "escape addiction."
The attorney is going to appeal the decision in the Cassation Court.
Alexander Muardyan, a representative of the Prosecutor General's Office, says there is not need to release the lifer and present him as a sacred person otherwise it will incur ridicule in the society.
To this end, we should study the practice of advanced countries where prisoners are taken back to prison following an amnesty. There are many other lifers in Armenian prisons who really deserve to be released.
Neither Semerjyan nor his relatives showed up at the court session.
