SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE SERVICE OF ARMENIA: NOBODY IS ARRESTED OR DETAINED FOR POLITICAL VIEWS

arminfo
2008-04-15 20:16:00

ArmInfo. The Special Investigative Service of Armenia (RA SIS) doesn’t
consider the statements on existence of political prisoners in Armenia
to be grounded. Senior Investigator of the RA SIS Vahagn Harutyunyan,
who heads the investigation of the criminal case on the March 1 mass
disorders in Yerevan, expressed his opinion in an interview with
ArmInfo correspondent.

Commenting upon Armenian ex-president Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s statement
that there are political prisoners in Armenia, Harutyunyan noted that
this statement is another attempt to distort the facts. As regards
Ter-Petrosyan’s statement that many of his election agents are
arrested, Harutyunyan said that there may be such people among the
detainees, however, they are accused not for being Ter-Petrosyan’s
election agents but for committing criminally punishable acts. "And
the number of these persons doesn’t correspond to the statement of
oppositionists", Harutyunyan stressed. He added that the offenders
have different professions and different political views, and this
has a secondary importance. These data may only serve for the persons’
characteristics when delivering the verdict.

Harutyunyan also touched upon the hunger strike of some arrested
oppositionists. According to him, the hunger strike was organized
to create the impression that "all of them are allegedly political
prisoners, a hunger strike is their only method to make a name for
themselves". "But I don’t understand how a participant in the mass
disorders and robberies may be considered a political prisoner",
Harutyunyan noted. "Besides the criminal responsibility, one should
remember that there were victims and bloodshed, and the culprits should
be responsible for their actions before the society, people and their
own conscience. A professional politician shouldn’t try to lay his
responsibility to other people", he said. The SIS representative
also considers such actions an attempt to exert pressure on the
investigation as they discredit the country’s authorities and
cast shade on objectivity of the investigative body. This is done
deliberately but this is doomed to failure, he said. Harutyunyan
added that the investigative body only obeys the requirements of the
legislation in force and everything will be done to conduct unbiased
and all- round investigation and find all the culprits.