Epress.am News from Armenia
The police offered human rights activist Lala Aslikyan a deal, promising that they will display "good will" toward her and buy her a new video camera to replace the one they seized from her if she stops complaining and says that police have returned the (original) video camera to her. Aslikyan conveyed this news to Epress.am on Friday. The activist, however, refused the police "deal," saying she doesn't enter into deals.
"They say they will purchase a video camera of equal value and give it to me; meanwhile, no action is being taken to penalize the police officer [who took the camera]. They also said that my video camera has been found, but it's broken. I asked them to return the memory card and said I need it to film, but they refused, explaining that they'll return it only after the actions have been done," she said. What actions will be done, however, was unclear.
The fact that law enforcement officials, instead of punishing, are covering up the actions of their colleague has enraged Aslikyan. "This means that at any time a police officer can seize an item belonging to you and not be penalized. Why don't they want to hold the officer accountable so that it becomes a lesson for the others?" she asked, adding that in the coming days she will submit a report to the police.
Recall, the activist's video camera was seized on Dec. 2, during a march protesting Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Armenia. At the intersection of Amiryan and Zakyan streets, police officers forcefully shoved several protestors, including Aslikyan, into nearby police vans, where she attempted to film. One of the officers seized the video camera, after which she was taken out of the vehicle. Asklikyan asked that the video camera be returned to her, insisting that it contains important material, but officers took it away from the scene. Later, at the police station, the human rights activist explained how her video camera was taken, saying that a few news outlets caught the incident on tape.
The moment when Aslikyan was picked up by police can be seen in the video below.