Perhaps everyone will agree with the fact that bodyguards must be controlled by the Armenian government. In our reality, walking with armed bodyguards for some people has become mandatory. The activity of bodyguards has not been anything but carrying out the orders of their “masters”- terrorizing and abusing the journalists during rallies. And now the deputies of the NA ARF and Legal State factions think that it is the right time to set laws for bodyguards. However, during the recent NA hearings, the Deputy Chief of RA police, Ararat Mahtesyan, disagreed to this and said, “it only has to do with increasing the number of bodyguards who are allowed to carry guns.” Therefore, there is a fear that after the adoption of this law the number of bodyguards with guns will rapidly increase. And the ones who need bodyguards may apply to the bodyguard service of the RA police and get them. Perhaps the Deputy Chief of police has a point because the author of this bill is the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. That is why many people fear that if the ARF scouts are registered as bodyguards, then they will “turn Istanbul into a sea of blood.” This is dangerous because during its 115 year history this party has been known for terrorist acts. In 1994 the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan had to eventually prohibit the activity of this party in Armenia.
“In order to not make Armenia storage for illegal weapons, I have suggested that the bodyguards should only carry gas pistols. If they allow the bodyguards to carry real guns, those guns will then become grenades, tanks. At present they are not allowed to have weapons,” says NA Deputy Victor Dallakyan. According to him, any armed activity is unconstitutional. “As to who uses the gun for what purpose, that is a different story,” he says.
The Armenian National Movement party is also against the idea of armed groups that are not regulated by police. “Regardless of who the author is, I personally think that certain laws should be adopted to solve this issue through legislation. Police should keep their eyes on the bodyguards. It is not right to have armed forces that do not belong to police,” says Kachatur Kokobelyan, Deputy Chairman of ANM. Chairman of the Republican faction of the NA, Galust Sahakyan, thinks that this field needs to be regulated, and his party advocated the idea that “people should know that everyone has the right to have armed bodyguards,” he says. However, according to him, “the discussion of the law was vulgarized in the NA. What the NA should do is clarify under which circumstances a bodyguard should carry a gun. If I have a bodyguard of course, he is not armed, but if there is someone who is a super billionaire, he might need someone who is armed.”
However, the authors of the law- the ARF and the Legal State- insure that they have one purpose and that is to regulate the sector that is not in the legislative field. “Thy bodyguard is an outlaw and this causes many problems,” says the Chairman of the NA Committee on Defense, Internal Affairs and National Security.
P.S. Let’s remember last year, when the chairman of the Progressive Party of Armenia, Tigran Urikhanyan, wanted to establish “groups protecting public life,” which, if necessary, are supposed to take care of society by using weapons.