The move comes ahead of a June 24 sitting of the Council of Europe at which the rights body is due to discuss the issue.
Armenia’s parliament passed an amnesty on Friday that the government said would cover 90 percent of those charged over protests with police in March last year.
President Serzh Sarksyan and his government had been heavily criticised by rights groups for the crackdown that followed the deadly clashes, when the opposition took to the streets to protest Sarksyan’s victory in presidential elections.
Ten people, including two police officers, died in the violence. Some 100 people were convicted on charges stemming from the unrest, and more than 50 received jail terms.
“The amnesty will promote the resolution of very important issues, ease tensions in society and create the basis for cooperation,” said ruling party official David Harutyunyan, a member of the parliamentary state and legal affairs committee.
Legal experts in the former Soviet republic said the amnesty, proposed by Sarksyan, would likely apply to former foreign minister Alexander Arzumanyan and other opposition figures currently standing trial.
The move comes ahead of a June 24 sitting of the Council of Europe at which the rights body is due to discuss the issue.
The Council had criticised the arrest and imprisonment of people for political reasons.
Justice Minister Gevorg Danielyan said anyone jailed for up to five years would be freed, and those jailed for longer would see their sentences halved.
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