ArmInfo.Dodgers from military service in Armenia will be able to pay up to December 1, 2017 200 times the minimum monthly wage (200 thousand drams) for each appeal and be released from criminal prosecution. Corresponding amendments to the law "On citizens who did not pass military service in violation of the established order" were made at the November 17 sitting of the National Assembly on first reading.
According to MP Karine Ajemyan, the document, which was adopted in 2003, is already being amended for the eighth time, aimed at extending the validity of the law. For this period 8 billion drams have been accumulated in the off-budget fund of the Defense Ministry, which are directed to the needs of the defense department. According to the document, having paid up to the end of the year the amount of 200 times the minimum wage, deviators who have reached the age of 27 can be released from criminal responsibility and return to their homeland.
In his turn, Artak Zakaryan, First Deputy Defense Minister of the Republic of Armenia stressed that the document became the subject of settlements for some citizens, unlike those who faithfully fulfill their civil and constitutional duty. Payments, according to the deputy minister, are not a way out. For the defense department, money is not the determining factor. For this reason, the Ministry of Defense considers it necessary to limit the validity of the law until December 31, 2019, after which all benefits in the form of payments will be canceled.