PROSECUTOR GENERAL WANTS "TO SEE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER IN HIS STATUS"

NOYAN TAPAN

Ju ne 6, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 6, NOYAN TAPAN. The Prosecutor’s Office was obliged
to respond to the special speech of the Human Rights Defender. This
statement was made by Aghvan Hovsepian, the RA Prosecutor General,
during the discussion of the special public report of the RA Human
Rights Defender "on the February 19, 2008 presidential elections and
the post-electoral developments" in the National Assembly on June
5. According to him, a number of issues raised in the report have to
do with the prosecutor’s office and in case of not responding to them,
the prosecutor’s office would indirectly accept the commentaries in
the report.

According to Aghvan Hovsepian, the Human Rights Defender has surpassed
his competences, as the arguments in the report have nothing to do
with the problems of the human rights protection. In response to
the statement of the Defender that a prosecutor’s office has never
submitted objections to the report of the ombudsman, the Prosecutor
General mentioned in his turn that this is also the first time the
Human Rights Defender has made a political analysis in his report. "I
would like to see the Human Rights Defender in his status," Aghvan
Hovsepian mentioned. Not disputing the right of the ombudsman for
making a special report, he mentioned at the same time that the
Human Rights Defender is not a free creator to choose the subject of
the report himself: "He is a state official and his activities are
regulated by the law."

"I am far from thinking that police collaborators have operated
exceptionally by law and that there have been no excesses. That is
why an investigation is underway, as a result of which corresponding
decisions will be made," Aghvan Hovsepian declared. Referring to the
issue on the participation of police troops in the March 1 events and
the control over their avtivities, the Prosecutor General mentioned
that according to the Law on Police, the keeping of the public order
and the provision of the public security is the problem of those
troops and the Chief of the Police is their commander.

Aghvan Hovsepian mentioned that not a search but a scene inspection
was carried out in the Liberty square. In his words, the tents in
the square cannot be considered flats, therefore, no court decision
was necessary for the inspection.