ArmInfo.On September 20, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan introduced the acting head of the department, Arman Sargsyan, to the Police apparatus. The prime minister considered it important to fix that Sargsyan, after graduating from the Police Academy, worked only in this system.
"I also want to state that the solution of institutional problems is among the priorities of the Armenian government. Of course, the Armenian Police is a well-established structure, but we all set ourselves the task of setting higher standards for ourselves and overcoming them," Pashinyan said, adding that the parties , mutually must be satisfied with the results of work. The Acting Chief of Police, in turn, thanked the head of government for the concern he had shown to law enforcement officials over the past 1.5 years. "I undertake to do everything in order to meet your expectations," he said.
Nikol Pashinyan spent the final part of the meeting behind closed doors.
Earlier, on September 18, President Armen Sargsyan, at the suggestion of the head of government, signed a decree releasing the head of the Police Valery Osipyan from his post. On the same day in the evening, Osipyan was appointed chief adviser to the Prime Minister. As the head of the office of the Prime Minister of Armenia Eduard Aghajanyan stated, the resignations of the heads of the NSS and the Police were personally initiated by the Prime Minister of Armenia, and they were given the opportunity to write a letter of resignation. According to him, the activities of the ex-heads of the SNB and the police did not satisfy the prime minister. When asked why Valery Osipyan was appointed chief adviser to the head of government, the head of staff noted that it was possible that the prime minister considered that the former chief police officer would be useful in this status.
Valery Osipyan was appointed head of the police immediately after the "velvet revolution" - May 10, 2018. Prior to that, he served as deputy chief of the metropolitan police department. During the protests, he and current Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan were on opposite sides of the barricades. After coming to power, Pashinyan opted for Osipyan, saying that this decision should be symbolic. The head of government called it a sign of eradicating the "barbed wire culture" in Armenia.
Arman Sargsyan (b. 1978), has been serving in the Ministry of Internal Affairs since 2000. On March 18, 2018, he was appointed to the post of First Deputy Head of the RA Police.