Artak Zeynalyan holds consultation with the administration of the Penitentiary Service

Today, Acting Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan held a consultation with the administration of the Penitentiary Service. Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Suren Krmoyan, Head of the Penitentiary Service Artyom Mkhoyan, the deputy heads of the Penitentiary Service, the heads of penitentiary institutions and others participated in the meeting.

The Acting Minister noted that the consultation was conditioned by the determination of the Government to attach importance to this sector, evidence of which was the decision to earmark about AMD 280 million for improving the living and household conditions of convicts and detained persons being kept at penitentiary institutions for the first time in the last ten years. "The government has great expectations from the penitentiary system. Throughout the years, the public has formed stereotypical perceptions of, an attitude towards and evaluations of the system with objective grounds, and the objective of our Government is to give a speedy and systemic solution to them," Artak Zeynalyan said and mentioned that tangible and positive changes had been recorded in the period of implementation of the activities of the new Government. Despite that, the Acting Minister urged not to be satisfied with those results and to do the utmost to ensure substantial progress in the system.

Afterwards, Artak Zeynalyan, along with the administration of the Penitentiary Service, discussed a number of issues related to the conditions for keeping convicts, food quality, as well as elimination of the criminal subculture, the motives of self-harm and the attempts of suicide. The Acting Minister instructed to strictly control and prevent any manifestation of corruption, gambling, penetration of prohibited items and to apply incentive measures in case a convict behaves properly.

In their reports, the heads of penitentiary institutions recorded the tendency of reduction of deliveries which, according to them, is conditioned by the improvement of food quality, as well as a change in the discipline of convicts due to the increase of trust in the institution of conditional early release.

The opportunities of re-socialisation programmes for convicts and persons released on the ground of amnesty and of the implementation of educational programmes for persons being kept at penitentiary institutions, as well as the actions aimed at filling in the existing vacant positions at penitentiary institutions were also touched upon during the consultation.