Armenian authorities announced the amnesty to relieve pressure on the threshold of the elections they'll falsify, according to a member of Heritage oppositional parliamentary group.As Armen Martirosyan explained, the authorities mean to absolve themselves of international pressure they’re subjected to because of “political prisoners” in the country, in preparation for a pressure to follow because of falsified election results.

According to the parliamentarian, those detained after March 2008 events must have been released earlier. “They were sentenced to prison because of their political views, and the amnesty does not acquit them,” he observed.

Martirosyan characterized the new electoral code as illegitimate, being fully tailored to current authorities' demands.