The parliamentary faction member of the Heritage Party, Zaruhi Postanjyan voiced concern during the news briefing regarding the law on operational investigative actions which was given the third reading and will be discussed in the next session of parliament. “Imagine they can wiretap your telephone for 48 hours without having a warrant. Would you agree to this?” says Zaruhi Postanjyan. According to her, the faction is not against having such a law but it contains provisions which violate the constitutional rights of citizens. Another member of the Heritage Faction Vardan Khachatryan says the methods provided for by the law are typical of totalitarian countries such as Ottoman Turkey or the Soviet Union which disappeared because they shortened the freedoms of their citizens. The leader of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun’s faction Hrair Karapetyan thinks it is better to have the law the way it is now than not to have it at all. “Without such a law the actions of law enforcement agencies would be much more dangerous regarding violation of human rights and shortening of freedoms. Despite its shortcomings, an imperfect law is better than no law. There is no such law now, they do what they want, they wiretap as much as they want, the investigative actions are arbitrary, because there is no law,” Hrair Karapetyan says. He even said he wished there had been a similar law in the years when the ARF leaders were arrested. “if there had been a law, they would not have broken down the doors of their apartments but would first need a warrant which would take them several days, and they would not be startled and would prepare,” he said. Another fact is also very interesting. Why has the government decided to adopt such a law at this stage, a few months prior to Presidential elections?
