Armenian law-enforcement bodies get 2.4m-dollar grant from USA

Public Television of Armenia, Yerevan
13 Jul 05

[Presenter over video of signing ceremony] Armenian Prosecutor-General
Agvan Ovsepyan and US Ambassador to Armenia John Evans today signed
the protocol on amendment to the Armenian-American intergovernmental
letter of agreement on drugs control and cooperation in the
law-enforcement sphere in Yerevan.

The Armenian-US intergovernmental letter of agreement on drugs control
and cooperation the law enforcement sphere was signed in 2001.

In accordance with the new amendments the US government is to allocate
2.411m dollars to Armenia which be directed to six projects.

The money will be used for setting up a regional computer network for
the law-enforcement bodies, establishment of educational and research
centres for law-enforcement personnel, a project to counter human
trafficking, development of regional training facilities for border
guards and customs officers, help with the criminal law reform and
legal socialization programme.

It is expected that 1m dollars from the allocated sum will be spent on
setting up a crime research centre and 350,000 dollars on setting up a
regional computer network for the law-enforcement bodies.

[Agvan Ovsepyan, captioned] The protocol will create an opportunity to
continue the programmes implemented in recent years. These programmes,
for which we are grateful, [are] mainly in three spheres, the most
important of which is establishing a crime research centre in Armenia.