Power to grant asylum to be transferred from president to authorized body

The power of granting political asylum, which is currently held by the President, will be transferred to an authorized body, which will be chosen by the government.

Today Armenian lawmakers debated the bill on amending the law on political asylum.

Vache Terteryan, the first deputy minister of territorial administration of Armenia, said the government will chose the authorized body which will deal with the issue.

“The other amendment includes prolonging the 10-day period for discussing the application to 30 days – thus enabling more comprehensive discussions”, he said.

The deputy minister said the amendments will also transfer the appeal procedure to the judicial sphere.