"Hraparak" newspaper wrote:
Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan is convinced that after the Armenian Apostolic Church, the police is the most reliable institution among the public. He cites some polls in which the rating of the police is second only to the church. On the one hand, all kinds of crimes in the country are increasing day by day, tenfold the previous statistical data, on the other hand, public trust in the police is decreasing, but instead of working in this direction, Ghazaryan is busy with self-praise. By the way, KP deputy Lusine Baghalyan countered that crimes are increasing in Armenia, but people do not turn to the police, because especially in the case of thefts, either they are not disclosed, or according to the deputy, they are disclosed, but the police appropriate the theft. As a result, it turns out that people waste unnecessary time and energy, end up in pointless struggles, because the result is zero.
"Hraparak" spoke with Justice General, Major Tatul Petrosyan about these and other issues.- Vahe Ghazaryan is sure that the police are ranked second after the church, but we see what is happening in Armenia. Several stabbings in a week, murders, thefts every day. Why is the minister sure that the work of the police is effective, and finally, what is the real reason for this terrible situation? - The police does not fulfill its powers established by law at all. Many have departed from their statutory powers. There has never been such deep hatred towards the police today. The people hate the police, I am sorry to say this, but there has never been such a gap. After kicking out these "revolutionaries", the budget should spend some money and change the police uniforms, so that at least this hatred towards the police will decrease.
I heard Vahe Ghazaryan's statement that after the church is the Police, it is just a result of lies and insanity. I feel sorry for the guy in human terms. First of all, let me say that he did not write that speech himself, but he was given a hand to write it, and he could not even read normally. I really feel sorry for him in human terms, he will become a scapegoat tomorrow. The police today serves one person, has turned its back on the people, and the people naturally do not trust the police.
I myself talk a lot with people on this topic, people just cringe when they hear the name of the policemen. The public, in the form of the police, has not seen protection, fairness for a long time. Many videos are published by people, recordings of how, for example, patrols communicate with people, with what lexicon. They are extremely illiterate, such illiterate people cannot have serious public trust. - And what explains the increase in crimes and drug trafficking? By the way, the deputy mentioned that the police take the stolen property after discovering thefts, have you heard something like that? - The entire National Assembly was filled with the publication of figures yesterday. But it was not about the fact that crimes have increased, it was noted that there was a change in statistics. As a result of the change in the Criminal Procedure Code, so many cases are being reported, or were being reported as accidents. From 2019 to 2023, crimes increased by 14,000.
Before, 14,000 cases did not happen in the entire republic, it was an exceptional number. In 2019, the number of crimes was 26,850, in 2023 it became 40,666. To say that these numbers are recorded on the basis of statistical change is simply to make a fool of the public. There were four stabbings in three days, firearms are used in broad daylight, the increase in drug sales is 86 percent, it turns out, it has increased by almost one hundred percent. In other words, 2 out of every 10 people use drugs. Crimes involving firearms - murders, hooliganism - increased by 36 percent. Now, what does Vahe Ghazaryan say, why should the public's trust and love for the police increase in a country with such an image? The increase in crimes is due to the following principles: impunity, every criminal is sure that he is unpunished, as well as due to the failure of the state to adopt a crime fighting policy. That girl, Anna Vardapetyan, is trying to explain to people from the podium that the factual circumstances are the basis of the accusation. That girl does not understand that she is committing a serious crime and tomorrow she will stand next to Nikol Pashinyan, maybe one step ahead. The ideology of covering up all this has entered the Prosecutor's Office. We can say the same about the Investigative Committee and the Police.- But Nikol Pashinyan announced a few days ago at the event dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the Investigative Committee, that the Investigative Committee no longer prepares cases. And the Kyaramyan-Aghazaryan dispute that took place in the National Assembly on Tuesday was a testimony to the fixing of cases and other inadmissible things.
It shows that the management system is rotten. Roguery is taking place, betrayal of each other, they have betrayed not only the Armenian people, but this group is already betraying itself, looking for traitors within itself, making cases against each other, provoking each other... these have reached the point of impunity that they are not only working against the people but also against themselves. They created that prodigy of the Investigative Committee, that scourge, and now they say that things can't be done. Society sees everything.
People go to the police to report, even this system is not able to accept a full report from a citizen. Criminal proceedings have been initiated in a case of theft, people are finding mediators to interrogate him as the victim. It is about one of my acquaintances. This is a real shame. They have been investigating criminal proceedings for years, Mikayel Arzumanyan, Armen Ashotyan have been in custody for several years and there are many more examples. What are these if not cases of sewing? They reason that the terms of examinations are getting longer, but in the past, if there were criminal cases lasting a year or more, then with serious accounting and monitoring, but the official number did not exceed 50-60.
