The Ministry of Justice of Armenia and the General Prosecutor’s office have been going through rough times for several years now and there have always been rumors about that. The tension has grown with the increasing offensive remarks.
Journalists had the opportunity to witness the tension between the justice ministry and the General Prosecutor’s office during a public prosecutors’ session held on July 28. By summarizing the work done to defend accusations in court, the deputy general prosecutor of Armenia, Gagik Jhangiryan, said that there is a “silent” fight between the courts and the prosecutor’s offices-both are trying to see who is more objective and more lawful.
“I can assure you that there are some cases when the arguments brought up for the accusations in court are weak, the evaluations are not good and there are some violations of the norms during the investigation. In times like those, we confess that we were wrong and go along with the decision of the court. The guilty are ordered to abide by the law. However, there have been many times when the instance court’s verdict or decision hasn’t corresponded to the law or just hasn’t made any sense. But there is nothing you can do about it because it has already been legalized and your protests either go through long hearings or are simply rejected. The only thing left to do is move the case up to higher levels,” said Gagik Jhangiryan. The public prosecutors sitting beside him simply gave nods of approval.
Murders are increasing
The public prosecutors also discussed the work they had completed during the first half of 2006. It is worth mentioning that based on statistics, things are not looking too good. Compared to the same period last year, the number of crimes in Armenia has gone up by 10%. There is an increase in murders and murder attempts, property theft, drug addiction and the illegal sale of drugs. However, during the session, general prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepyan said that the number of crimes has decreased in Armenia.
“There are not many crimes committed in Armenia compared to CIS and European countries. You can see tranquility as you walk the streets of the capital city because there are rules and regulations. This is thanks to our society,” said Mr. Hovsepyan.
It was the same rules and regulations that caused the murder of Karine Sargsyan near the “Bank Intersection” in the Malatia-Sebastia community of Yerevan, but it seemed as though Mr. Hovsepyan didn’t really care about that. So, we shouldn’t really make a big fuss about the number of crimes in Armenia when the general prosecutor is busy organizing round dances and tree-plantings.
In regard to the murder in the Malatia-Sebastia community, I asked Aghvan Hovsepyan about the news on the legal proceedings.
“We have been investigating the case thoroughly since the day of the crime. The victim was a very active person, had a ranking, was well-known in society and had a good business. There have been many versions and we have even formed some subcommittees to follow up on the case. I can’t really go further into detail taking into account the confidentiality,” said Aghvan Hovsepyan and hoped that the case would soon be revealed.
Stepan Hakobyan was recently released from jail after being arrested for keeping illegal weapons. Stepan is the nephew of Armenian MP Hakob Hakobyan who was accused of the murder of S. Zatikyan. No matter how strange it sounds, A. Hovsepyan considers Stepan Hakobyan’s release normal.
“The investigator believed that it would be right to release him and I agreed with that.”
It’s not clear as to why he confirmed that. However, it is worth mentioning that A. Hovsepyan’s decision is strange when they release the person accused of murder and keeping illegal weapons, while it has already been a month since chief editor of “Time-Yerevan” newspaper Arman Babajanyan was arrested. Even the most “fair” court didn’t come up with a good reason why they released him.
One other thing: compared to the same period last year, there is a rise in giving and taking bribes. Whereas there were five cases in 2005, this year there are eleven cases, especially at a time when the level of corruption is rising in the country. A. Hovsepyan said that the statistics show the minimum number of cases. So, with this Hovsepyan assures that corruption is reaching great heights in Armenia and that the police are either unable or don’t want to fight against it.