127 women convicts and 48 detainees are kept in the “Abovian” jail

YEREVAN, APRIL 6, ARMENPRESS: As of April 1 127 women convicts and 48 detainees are kept in the “Abovian” criminal executive institution of the Armenian Justice Ministry. Deputy head of the Ministry’s criminal executive department Varuzhan Melkonyan said the youngest is 18 years old convicted for hooliganism, and the eldest one is 73 years old convicted for drug buying and selling.

V. Melkonyan says the 15 children of the women of the “Abovian” jail live in children’s houses and 3 kids from 1 to 3 years old are with their mothers. The majority of the convicted women are Armenians, 2 Georgians, 4 Russians, 1 Jewish, 1 Greek and 1 Yezidi. According to the statistics, the crimes committed by women are mainly frauds, murders, trafficking. The majority of the convicted are from socially insecure families.

V. Melkonyan noted that measures are being undertaken to solve the employment issues of the convicted and detainees. Fifty two of the women have jobs. Thirty two women convicts are involved in the “Support to Detainee” Foundation: 15 of them are dealing with carpet knitting, 3 with cattle breeding, 13 are working in the sawing workshop. V. Melkonyan said that 15-17 women will soon be involved in the field cultivating works.

Speaking about the issues of “Abovian” jail, V. Melkonyan noted that the building conditions are poor. “The building was built in 1958 and till now has several times been partially renovated but today it is in bad condition and needs reconstruction. It also has a heating problem,” V. Melkonyan said, adding that the medical point of the jail is also in desperate situation.