YEREVAN, OCTOBER 31, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian parliament adopted at first hearing the bill on granting clemency on criminal cases.

72 MPs voted in favor of the bill.

No one voted against.

The second hearing and voting will take place November 1.

If passed, the amnesty bill will cover nearly 660 convicts – the largest amnesty ever, acting justice minister Artak Zeynalyan said today at parliamentary debates.

The bill is currently being debated in parliament.

The amnesty will also cover 2720 people under probation from a total of 3850, he said.

It will also cover 1096 out of the 6140 criminal cases under investigation at the investigative committee.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan