Epress.am News from Armenia
The RA Special Investigation Service's (SIS) investigation into the use of force by Armenian police against the mothers of soldiers who died under non-combat conditions in the Armenian army is pointless, since Armenian Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan has already expressed his view on the issue, putting pressure on the SIS, human rights defender Artak Zeynalyan said in an interview with Epress.am.
Note, Kostanyan said in the National Assembly on Wednesday, May 20, “an opinion has been formed in our society that police use of force is a crime in itself. That is not true. In our country, as well as in the whole world, the police is one of the few structures that has a legal mandate to use force.”
“He expressed his position publicly, while Kostanyan, in his official capacity as Prosecutor General, should exercise control over the case. [The parents] have no effective measures of protection. It's pointless to go to court. They should appeal to the European Court of Human Rights,” Artak Zeynalyan said.
The use of force against the mothers protesting in front of the presidential residence, the human right defender stated, violated their right to assembly, which entails a protest should take place where it would be heard.
“When they call on the parents to [move across the street from the presidential residence], they might as well provide the protesters with, say, “Hrazdan” stadium for demonstrating. If a protest action is not seen or heard, then it's just a formality,” Zeynalyan said, emphasizing that the mothers' protest was of an exclusively peaceful nature.