Video: Individuals Engaging in Disorder at Government and Parliament Buildings Arrested, Including Those Who Used Violence Against the Parliament President - NSS

On September 27, 2020, amid the war unleashed by the Republic of Azerbaijan against the Republic of Artsakh and the declaration of martial law in the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Artsakh on the same day, a statement regarding the agreement to cease hostilities was made between the Republic of Armenia, the Russian Federation, and the Republic of Azerbaijan on November 10, 2020. Following this announcement, mass riots were organized and executed using violence, causing destruction, damaging property, or violently resisting representatives of the government at various locations in Armenia, particularly in the capital city of Yerevan, including the buildings of the RA Government and the National Assembly, as well as other state and public sites. During this time, participants actively called for not complying with the legal demands of government representatives and committing violence against individuals, as well as making public calls aimed at seizing power and violently overthrowing the constitutional order, which endangered public safety and disrupted the normal functioning of state and local self-government bodies.

Moreover, on the same day, participants in the mass riots used violence against the President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, in an attempt to coerce the implementation of the terms of the aforementioned agreement. Threats of violence were also directed at government members and the Prime Minister for the same purpose.

A criminal case has been initiated in the investigative department of the National Security Service of Armenia under Article 225, Parts 1, 2, and 4, and Article 301 and 301.1, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia on November 10, 2020. As a result of numerous and effective investigative and other procedural actions and operational-search measures undertaken during the pre-investigation, around 20 individuals were identified and arrested based on direct suspicion of committing the crime. Notably, most of these individuals, already known to the public for their disorders, expressed remorse for their actions and dramatically changed their behavior to that of a law-abiding citizen immediately after the application of procedural coercion.

Additionally, operational-search measures have been carried out, inspections of the crime scenes conducted, urgent investigative and procedural actions taken, forensic, forensic and trace examination complexes assigned, numerous witnesses interrogated, items stolen from the government residence have been recovered, and video recordings from the area have been seized, allowing for the identification of individuals captured in those recordings. Other types of investigative and procedural actions have been implemented to clarify the identities of all participants in the mass riots, including the organizers, and to hold them accountable before the law.

The National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia is consistently fighting to prevent, disrupt, and reveal crimes directed against public security, the foundations of the constitutional order, and state security. At the same time, broad community engagement in this process is expected, with authorities inviting individuals to report any information they have regarding the identity of individuals visible in the videos published on social networks related to the aforementioned incidents.

The NSS calls for compliance with the requirements of the legal regime of martial law, exhibiting high civic responsibility, refraining from provocations, avoiding subordinating personal or partisan interests to the public good, misleading the public under the guise of patriotism, and actions that would jeopardize the life and health of soldiers still in combat positions are unacceptable. The state warns that it will undertake adequate actions using all available measures in response to the situation.