YEREVAN, JUNE 30, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian Embassy in Spain issued a statement expressing concern over the term “Armenian mafia” used by the Spanish interior ministry and media outlets in the reports about more than 100 people, including Armenians, who were detained last week as a result of the operations of the law enforcement agencies in the country.

The Embassy said this formulation significantly damages the reputation of several tens of thousands of law-abiding and exemplary Armenians living in Spain.

Armenpress presents the full statement:

“The Armenian Embassy in Spain always keeps in its spotlight all the developments relating to our citizens. Over the past week more than 100 persons have been detained as a result of the operations of the law enforcement agencies in different parts of Spain: according to available information, there are persons of Armenian descent and Armenian citizens among the detained.

The statement released by the Spanish interior ministry on June 26 used the term “Armenian mafia”, which has also been used in Spanish media reports.

The Embassy expresses its concern over such formulations. They significantly damage the reputation of several tens of thousands of law-abiding and exemplary Armenians living in Spain.

The Embassy considers important to refrain from such unacceptable formulations, especially when not all of the detainees are Armenians, their being members of one criminal organization has not been proved yet and there is no court verdict that has entered into force against them.

Being confident in the skillfulness of legal operations of the Spanish law enforcement agencies, at the same time we consider ineffective the emphasis on ethnic origin in the fight against criminal groups, which doesn’t contribute to the formation of multinational society and deepening tolerance in Spain, which is one of the priorities of the Spanish government and is being successfully carried out for years”.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan