January 29,  2020

On January 28, we all witnessed the fact of the RA Police being openly used for personal or political purposes. Demonstration force was used, which was absolutely unnecessary. It is obvious that none of the detained public figures would have avoided coming to the police and answering any question of interest to the law enforcement officers. Obviously, there was an order to carry out an action based on the script of low-quality films of the genre. 

Narek Malyan, Artur Danielyan, Narek Samsonyan and anyone else, regardless of their political preferences and views, have all the rights stipulated by the RA Constitution for free public activity. It can be assumed that the history of making and executing the order of this action has points and motives unknown to the public. 

Unfortunately, “the police is ours”, one of the main slogans of the revolution, is being transformed into the dangerous trend of “the police is mine”. 

We urge you to be alert to these changes. Surprisingly, all this is being done in front of the young and promising members of the parliament, professing liberal, democratic values, most of whom, until recently, stood for the principled positions of human rights protection, rule of law, and equality before the law. If they remain silent today, lower their voice, the processes will go in a very undesirable direction, and they will have their share of responsibility in all of this. The protection of human rights cannot be conditioned by political expediency and the coincidence of views, and today is the moment to record with open eyes that until this moment, no grounds have been presented for arresting people with the use of violence. There was no justification for the use of disproportionate force, the need to demonstrate, videotape and disseminate the arrest process.

At the same time, we call on all our colleagues, sympathizers, and opponents to jointly prevent new gaps between the society and the police. The role of the police is also important here. regardless of everything, the change of governments, the police belong to the state and must act exclusively within the limits of law and reason. 

“Alternative Projects Group”