ArmInfo. RA Minister of Internal Affairs Vahe Ghazaryan met today with the Chairman of the RA Chamber of Advocates Simon Babayan, Head of the Office of the Public Defender (PDO) Gevorg Mkrtchyan and Director of the RA School of Advocates Ara Zohrabyan.
According to the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs' press service, the meeting was attended by Police Chief - Deputy Interior Minister, Major General of Police Aram Hovhannisyan, Head of Internal Security Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Police Colonel Vaghinak Martirosyan.
Following the meeting, a joint statement was adopted.
In particular, it reads: "The RA Ministry of Internal Affairs and the RA Chamber of Advocates, having discussed the incidents that took place in February and June of this year in two metropolitan police departments (in Central and Erebuni), declare that the parties emphasize the role of the attorneyship and the police in the legal system of Armenia and consider any manifestation of violence unacceptable.
In addition, based on the results of internal investigations, the Ministry of Internal Affairs gave its assessment of the incident that occurred in the Erebuni department, and the incident that occurred in the Central Department is in the process of internal investigation.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs assures that the actions of the police officers involved in the incidents will be given a proper legal assessment, ensuring a comprehensive, complete and objective investigation.
Moreover, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Chamber of Advocates will establish a joint commission consisting of police officers and lawyers to quickly respond to such situations, organize mutual conversations, training courses, and discuss issues related to the behavior of police officers and lawyers.
And in the coming days, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Chamber of Advocates will sign a memorandum of cooperation."
As ArmInfo previously reported, on July 11, Armenian lawyers began a three-day protest outside the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs, demanding the resignation of the RA Police Chief Aram Hovhannisyan. In the morning, the head of the RA Police was awarded the certificate "Enemy of the Attorneyship".
Relations between the Police and the Chamber of Advocates deteriorated after employees of the Erebuni police department insulted and beat two lawyers, Marzpet Avagyan and Emmanuel Ananyan, at the beginning of the year (the incident took place during a confrontation involving a minor and a police officer - ed. note). Then, the chief of the police promised to punish those responsible, and the incident was hushed up.
However, on June 7 of this year, another lawyer was severely beaten by law enforcement officers. The incident took place in the Central Department of the RA Police. This time, the police targeted Karen Alaverdyan's lawyer.