Armenian Police Say Crime Again Falling
By Nane Atshemian 29/10/2004 08:36

Radio Free Europe, Czechia
29 Oct. 2004

The Armenian police reported on Thursday a 4.4 percent decrease in
the number of officially registered crimes committed during the first
nine months of this year.

The information contrasted with police figures for the first
half of 2004 that showed a 4.5 percent rise in crime compared
with the same period last year. “The overall rate of crime has
tended to decrease during the first nine months of the year,” Sayad
Shirinian, the spokesman for the national Police Service, told a news
conference. “Also, the percentage of solved cases is higher than it
was last year.”

It was not clear if the police found a major drop in crime during
the third quarter of the year. Presenting the first-half figures on
August 4, the deputy chief of the police, General Ararat Mahtesian,
admitted that the Armenian government’s spring crackdown on the
opposition left his officers with less time and fewer resources to
combat crime. The crackdown involved mass detentions of opposition
activists and a heavy police presence at anti-government rallies.

Mahtesian also blamed the increased delinquency on Armenia’s new,
more lenient criminal code that came into effect in August 2003. It
also led to the earlier-than-expected release from jail of more than
800 convicts.

According to Shirinian, a total of 8,098 crimes, nearly a third of
them “serious,” were reported to the police from January through the
end of September. He said despite the overall drop in the number of
offences there have been more cases of theft, robbery, fraud as well
as illegal arms and drug possession.

The official also said that 172 people, 17 of them children, have died
in 872 road accidents across Armenia this year. “The main causes of
road accidents continue to be speeding and violations of overtaking
rules,” he said.

Shirinian added that Armenia’s overall rate of delinquency remains
low by ex-Soviet standards, with an average of 25 crimes per 10,000
people committed annually. The figure is 143 and 83 in Russia and
Ukraine respectively.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress