A relevant bill presented to lawmakers by Deputy Justice Minister Gevorg Kocharian would make draft evasion a crime punishable by between three and six years in prison. Such charges currently carry jail terms ranging from two to five years. The bill would also extend from two to three years the maximum punishment for illegal avoidance of a reservist call-up.
Kocharian said that the tougher punishment sought by the government is designed to tackle an increased number of such offenses. In his words, it rose from around 1,500 in 2023 to 1,800 last year. Only 102 male citizens were convicted of draft evasion and sentenced by courts in 2024.
“This indicates the need to review criminal policy and implement a stricter punitive policy against those who commit the aforementioned acts,” he told lawmakers.
“Naturally, we do not expect that all or even most of these cases will disappear, but this will have a certain impact, and most importantly, this will be a message from the state,” added the official.
Commenting on the bill, both pro-government and opposition lawmakers cited problems reported during annual short-term call-ups of reservists in Armenia. They said that many reservists unjustly face criminal proceedings due to flawed mechanisms for their notification by military authorities.
The National Assembly controlled by the ruling Civil Contract party is due to vote on the bill later this week. The party’s parliamentary leaders gave no indications that they will block its passage.
The parliament debate came less than a week after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s cabinet approved a highly controversial bill that would sharply shorten the compulsory military service for men willing to pay the state hefty sums.
The length of the military duty for Armenian men aged 18 and older has long been set at two years. The bill would give them the option of serving in the armed forces only one or four months in exchange for paying 24 million drams ($61,500) and 18 million drams ($46,000) respectively.
Hayk Sargsian, a pro-government parliamentarian and the main author of the bill, has argued that affluent parents already pay bribes or find other ways to exempt their teenage sons from military service. He has claimed that the proposed legal fees would largely eliminate the practice and generate more revenue to the state budget.
Opposition parliamentarians and other critics of the government have strongly condemned the bill, saying that it would weaken the army, legalize privileged treatment of the rich and severely undermine social cohesion. They also call it unconstitutional.
“In the Republic of Armenia, it is emphasized [in the constitution] that everyone is equal before the law, regardless of their social, gender, race, and other affiliation,” said Gegham Manukian of the opposition Hayastan alliance. “Yet under this draft law, a rich man doesn’t have to fulfill his constitutional duty to the homeland, while a non-rich man is obliged to go and serve [in the army.]”
Manukian said that he and other opposition lawmakers will therefore challenge the bill in the Constitutional Court if it is passed by the parliament.
The parliament committee on defense and security was scheduled to discuss the bill on Monday. However, the discussion was unexpectedly postponed. The deputy chairman of the commission, Armen Khachatrian, gave no clear explanation for the delay.