YEREVAN, OCTOBER 29, ARMENPRESS. Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan says he has never visited Nairi Hunanyan, the convicted terrorist leader of the 1999 Armenian parliament attack who is serving a life sentence.

Badasyan told reporters today that he doesn’t see a need for meeting Hunanyan.

“If Hunanyan has valuable information it should be of interest of the law enforcement system not me,” he said.

Speaking about the rejection of Hunanyan’s request for parole, the minister said the negative conclusion has been given based on standards prescribed by law and the case will not reach court proceedings.

“However, there is a certain period of time for appealing,” he said, adding that the matter is not under his jurisdiction.

Hunanyan requested parole on October 22, days before the 20th anniversary of the notorious attack.

Both the Department of Corrections and the Probation Service gave a negative conclusion, which means the request is considered rejected.

On October 27, 1999 a group of five armed gunmen led by Hunanyan stormed into the parliament while it was in session and assassinated Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, Speaker Karen Demirchyan, Deputy Speakers Yuri Bakhshyan and Ruben Miroyan, as well as three lawmakers and a Cabinet member. The gunmen held the remaining MPs in parliament hostage until surrendering to authorities the next day.

The five perpetrators, which include Hunanyan’s younger brother and uncle, were sentenced to life in prison in 2003.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan