Who are the judges of the prosecutor?

19/09/2007 Lilit AVAGYAN

Regardless of whose candidature the President of RA Robert Kocharyan would nominate for the Prosecutor General’s position or no matter how long the NA would ask questions to Aghvan Hovsepyan it was quite clear that the latter would be elected for that post. No serious analysis or forecast was necessary to assume that Hovsepyan would be re-appointed. It seemed that after the amendment of the Constitution the Prosecutor General would be elected by the National Assembly and those the role of the latter would be even more signified. However the impression was totally different. First of all the questions of some of the MPs made us suppose that many of them are not even aware of the discussed issue or don’t understand it well enough.

Many of the responses of the questions are quite old. In particular, these questions included the murder of the 12-year old boy in Gyumri, who was shot dead. After finding his dead body and autopsy the case was terminated and thousands of Gyumri residents didn’t receive answers to their questions. There were questions, which sounded approximately this way, “Mr. Hovsepyan is it true that the formula of water is H2O?” Unlike the opposition, which was quite active in questions, the oligarch-MPs were quite passive perhaps because of their suspicious past. Many of the MPs have direct relations to many of the articles of the Criminal Code of the RA. And this information is well known by the institution headed by Aghvan Hovsepyan.

Besides that the incident, which happened to former NA MP Hakob Hakobyan was a bright example for many of the MPs. He dared to blame Aghvan Hovsepyan for violating his immunity as an MP and accused him of putting a criminal case on him. So what happened after that? New episodes appeared in Hakobyan’s business activity, the reality of which is out of doubt, however the chosen date was strange.

One more fresh case to mention. The incident, which happened to the former head of Aviation of RA, Shahen Petrosyan, was very impressive. The latter was severely beaten. There was the victim, the perpetrator, the society was well aware of that and it seems that nothing else would hinder the revelation of the case. Everybody was sure that the criminal would be punished based on the criminal code of Armenia. But Petrosyan has been healed long ago and the criminal is free. The society may suppose that the case was closed by the bilateral agreement of the parties since the criminal code envisages sanctions not only for those who are beating, but for those who are being beaten too…
The appointment, re-appointment or any other thing, which could happen to the Prosecutor General doesn’t change anything in the society. And while the MPs were touched to witness that the Prosecutor General’s appointment depends on them not the president they don’t have any guarantee that during the 6 years of his work won’t appear to the NA by his habit and come up with his well-known goals. At that time they will have an opportunity to check whether Vishinski’s methods are forgotten or are as fresh as the chops of the NA cafeteria.

And the society is totally indifferent to the processes taking place in the Parliament and especially this one. The reason is not that the Prosecutor General is not a public person or doesn’t have popularity because he has been organizing many different public activities, such as dancing around the mountain, tree planting, etc. The indifference of the society is not connected with the most possible nominee of the post or Hovsepyan’s quiet voice or mysterious look. The reason is that regardless of who the Prosecutor General is appointed or elected by the criminal mass of the population concentrated in the judicial branch and has tight links with the legislative and the executive. But the average citizen still remains as unprotected as he was prior to Hovsepyan or during his activity.

P.S.
On Thursday right exactly at the moment when the Parliament found strength to re-elect Prosecutor General, Aghvan Hovsepyan (it happened only when the ARF faction received information about the fight against corruption initiated by the Prosecutor General’s Office), “02” TV program announced that the police succeeded in arresting a dangerous criminal, who has stolen three bags from one of the grocery stores of Armenia. The criminal has been immediately isolated from the society.