U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE HOLDS CONFERENCE ON FIGHTING CORRUPTION IN YEREVAN
Noyan Tapan
Dec 9, 2008
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 9, NOYAN TAPAN. As U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary
and Plenipotentiary to RA Marie Yovanovitch affirmed, when society’s
confidence to the law enforcement system is low, society does not
fight corruption, but solves the problem by corruption means. The
Ambassador said that at the conference on the subject Efficient Means
of Corruption Crimes Investigation and Criminal Prosecution on Them
organized on December 9 by the U.S. Department of Justice.
In her interview to journalists the Ambassador said that high-ranking
American officials have been prosecuted and punished lately: it
requires great work and political will. "We have managed to record
progress in this sphere in the United States and it inspires me
with the hope that everybody in all countries is able to have such
progress," she said. The example of Chicago in 1920 shows that even one
person is able to change the situation, and it can also be in Armenia:
there was only one prosecutor in Chicago in 1920, who finally changed
the whole situation as he did his business consistently.
According to Armen Ashrafian, the Head of the Department on Corruption
and Cases of Organized Crime of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office,
active participation of society and NGOs is needed to efficiently
fight corruption.
In response to a journalist’s question of why there is no agreement on
mutual legal assistance with the U.S. so far, A. Ashrafian said that
Armenia’s law enforcement bodies, in particular, Prosecutor’s Office
cooperate very closely with the U.S., but it is done by a good will:
"such work is already being done on our initiative, and the problem
can be settled if not by interstate agreements, at least by memoranda,"
he said.
Two prosecutors and three high-ranking Police officials from the
U.S. took part in the conference. Prosecutors, investigators from
the Special Investigation Service, RA State Revenues Committee of RA
Police represented the Armenian side.