The Noose Tightens Around Police Chief Osipyan

The newspaper 'Past' reports: 'In the new Armenia, dismissals are maturing almost according to the same scenario. Initially, specific officials are framed by certain deputies, creating appropriate public sentiments, and then the Prime Minister shares his thoughts. At least, this is approximately how David Sanasaryan, Artak Zeynalyan, were dismissed, and there is an impression that the noose is tightening around Police Chief Valeri Osipyan. At least some have such desires.

Parliament Vice Speaker Lena Nazaryan, who has not been particularly active publicly recently, made a post on Facebook the other day. 'On Saturday, members of the initiative to protect Amulsar organized a fundraiser, and for some reason, the police decided to take initiative member Anna Shahbazyan to the police station on suspicion of fraud and kept her there for about three hours,' Lena Nazaryan mentioned in her Facebook post.

'In general, organizing fundraisers by political and civic initiatives in Armenia has been an accepted and very normal practice for a long time. If the initiative is recognized, citizens trust it and are willing to voluntarily donate their money, and this is done during a public event, then I cannot imagine what fraud could be involved and what documents and permits need to be presented and to whom. The 'Civil Contract' party has repeatedly conducted public fundraising events, and never has there been any notification to the city hall or elsewhere. I am simply perplexed as to why this well-known fact is not understandable at the police department and why citizens are targeted and held for activities that are not prohibited by law. I hope that such unfounded obstacles will not occur anymore,' the Vice Speaker wrote.

It is agreed that the Vice Speaker has voiced quite harsh assessments regarding police actions, and it seems that the intra-governmental contradictions in this case are multilayered and more profound in nature. On one hand, Valeri Osipyan is being targeted, who has been at the center of criticism recently due to frequent fatal traffic accidents and notable incidents, including murder cases, in the republic. Lena Nazaryan raises the issue that some in the upper echelons of power whisper about, suggesting that Osipyan's actions are inadequate and that he does not correspond to his position. On the other hand, the police chief recently received general’s epaulettes, which implies that Nikol Pashinyan does not see the need for staffing changes in the police for at least some time.

Perhaps Lena Nazaryan's minor 'rebellion' is a reaction to Osipyan's promotion to general. It’s hard to make unequivocal assertions, but in one of my previous articles, I predicted that after Artak Zeynalyan’s resignation, Osipyan would be targeted for both objective and particularly subjective reasons. However, Nazaryan's post reveals an intra-governmental contradiction surrounding a more profound issue. Amulsar remains the problem that unveils a dual-layered reality. On one hand, it reflects the government’s inability to find a solution to this significant issue; on the other, it illustrates the existence of intra-governmental conflicts regarding the Amulsar issue.

Lena Nazaryan almost equates environmentalists with the Civil Contract party, indirectly aligning with their demands. Behind the police actions lies perhaps a faction of the government that supports the exploitation of Amulsar, reinforcing the importance of the country’s investment attractiveness in the context of combating ‘marginal’ activists. In such matters, Osipyan certainly cannot act independently, but this case could easily render him a victim of intra-governmental contradictions or compromises.

In any case, Lena Nazaryan's post speaks of new intra-governmental contradictions that will inevitably lead to intriguing developments sooner or later.'