ARE THE SCENES OF BRUTALITY MOUNTED?
A1+
[07:03 pm] 24 September, 2008
On September 24, on the 100th day of his tenure of office, Chief
of the RoA Police Alik Sargsyan held a press conference. Naturally,
most questions addressed to the Chief of Police referred to the March
1 occurrences.
Reporters of "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty," "A1+," "Haykakan
Zhamanak" and "Chorrord Ishkhanutiun" posed a lot of questions which
were left unanswered.
They wondered whether the policemen who cruelly beat the citizens in
the footage recently revealed by the opposition have been exposed. The
chief of the police said he had watched the footage and added it had
deliberately been mounted by the authors. The Chief of Police thinks
some images are fake and mounted; others are being scrutinized closely
by relevant bodies.
"There are images of policemen carrying weapons, which is not
strange. The police were carrying weapons as shooting was heard on
that day. Carrying a weapon is one thing, whereas shooting from it
is quite another thing," said the Chief of Police.
To remind, a high-ranking policeman had carried a weapon earlier in
the day when no shots were heard on the scene.
However, the reporters repeated that they meant the beating of an
unarmed man clearly seen in the footage. Alik Sargsyan said a realistic
approach is needed. "When there is a crowd, when emotions are on
the peak, when the problem of self-defense occurs, it is difficult
to expect a policeman to stay calm." Alik Sargsyan said there were
fights for which he was not going to try any policeman.
He also said an investigation had been launched on the basis of the
footage to define the punishment for the wrongdoers
The reporters also tried to find out what has happened to the footages
of A1+, ALM and Yerkir Media channels, which were confiscated by the
police on March 1 and have not been returned so far. Alik Sargsyan
said the police have no footages in their possession, and advised to
turn to the office of Prosecutor General.
We had better wait until the NA ad hoc Committee investigating the
March 1 events completes its work. Much will be clear afterwards.