We Will Respond Firmly: Attorney General on Election Violations

The Attorney General of Armenia, Arthur Davtyan, today visited the Kotayk and Aragatsotn regions, where he held consultations at the regional prosecutor's offices with the participation of the leaders of all law enforcement agencies to discuss the agenda for ensuring the legality of the upcoming nationwide elections.

This was reported by the Public Relations Department of the Prosecutor's Office of Armenia. Arthur Davtyan noted that the forthcoming parliamentary elections are of great importance in terms of reducing internal and external security risks for the Republic, and law enforcement agencies are more than ever obligated to multiply their efforts to ensure the legality of the elections by all possible means.

The Attorney General emphasized the need for a rapid and firm response from law enforcement agencies to any cases of electoral crimes during the election campaign, the actual voting process, as well as in the post-election period, including attempts to influence the free expression of citizens' will in any way. He stated that they must utilize both criminal procedural tools and operational-investigative measures.

The significance of the changes made to the RA Criminal Code before the previous parliamentary elections was highlighted, as most electoral offenses have been classified as serious crimes, allowing law enforcement agencies to use a broader range of operational-investigative measures to combat them, both in terms of uncovering crimes and identifying those responsible for them to hold them accountable.

At the same time, the Attorney General imposed a strict requirement on law enforcement agencies to adhere to the legislative requirement of political neutrality and restraint, urging them to refrain from becoming involved in any illegal processes beyond their authority, and warning that any such manifestation would inevitably lead to specific consequences, including criminal liability.

Arthur Davtyan instructed the prosecutors of the regional offices to closely cooperate with the working group established at the Prosecutor General's Office regarding the operational response to criminal election violations and to ensure the necessary criminal procedural actions.

The Attorney General’s regional visits will continue under the outlined agenda. Earlier, Arthur Davtyan held a similar meeting in Ijevan with the leadership of law enforcement agencies in the Tavush region.