Armenian 'gays' seeking asylum in Netherlands

Text of report by Armenian news agency Armenpress

Yerevan, 15th December: According to statistics from the Armenian Centre for Democracy and Human Rights, about 600 of our compatriots have asked for asylum in the Netherlands as representatives of sexual minorities.

In line with article 116 of the Armenian Criminal Code, the penalty for homosexuality is imprisonment for up to five years.

The problem, however, is not that this phenomenon is a criminal offence in Armenia, but that our compatriots are using this as a pretext for emigration.

A check by the relevant services in the Netherlands showed that not even six of the 600 were actually homosexuals.

Source: Armenpress news agency, Yerevan, in Russian 0630 gmt 16 Dec 97