ArmInfo. Armenian Police refute the statement of candidates from the Republican Party Arpine Hovhannisyan and Eduard Sharmazanov that law enforcement agencies are putting pressure on RPA supporters, demanding to refrain from party assistance during election campaign and on election day.
Police qualify these statements as false caused by the logic of election campaigning. "The police is an non- political body and do not interfere in political processes. Its function is to ensure equal rights in elections for all participants in the electoral process," the police statement reads.
The police also commented on another statement by Arpine Hovhannisyan that the law enforcement agencies refused to open a criminal case on her complaint about threats to her. "The case was not initiated due to the lack of component of crime, but Arpine Hovhannisyan is free to appeal this decision," the police said in a statement.
To note, yesterday the candidates from RPA Arpine Hovhannisyan and Eduard Sharmazanov made statements that the law enforcement bodies are putting pressure on the party's supporters, call them to the Police and demand to refuse to assist the Republicans. According to Hovhannisyan, law enforcement agencies even "advised" RPA supporters to leave the republic temporarily. "All this is very easy to prove; now I understand why the Police refused to initiate a criminal case on my complaint about the threats against me, it is busy with more important matters," Hovhannisyan said.
Another RPA candidate, Vahan Babayan, also contacted the Police regarding threats against him. A similar statement was also made by the 3rd number of the proportional list of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun" party Artur Khachatryan. He said that unknown persons tried to hack his Facebook account and wrote there various threats against him.
Another information appeared in the media regarding attempts to violate electoral legislation. The matter, in particular, concerns putting pressure on the military for the purpose of voting for the ruling "My Step" bloc. Spokesperson of the Ministry of Defense Artsrun Hovhannisyan refuted the information in an interview with ArmInfo correspondent, calling these publications "ridiculous".