The 'Honor First' and 'Armenia' Factions Issue a Statement

The parliamentary opposition factions 'Honor First' and 'Armenia' have issued a statement. They declare that on June 3 of this year, the police displayed extremely aggressive, illegal behavior, and in some cases, provocateur and criminally punishable conduct.

The two opposition parliamentary factions state that:

• On June 3, police forces used illegal and disproportionate force (shields and batons) and special means, namely the ASZ-40 'Sviral' sound grenades, against peaceful assembly participants at the intersection of Proshyan and Demirchyan streets, despite the gathering being purely peaceful. In such cases, the police were supposed to support the peaceful gathering instead of obstructing it. Moreover, the use of sound grenades was executed without prior warning.
• As a result of the disproportionate use of force and special means, hundreds of citizens participating in the peaceful gathering sustained injuries of varying severity, including women and elderly individuals. Several members of the opposition factions also suffered physical injuries (broken ribs, contusions, etc.), along with representatives of political parties involved in the 'Resistance' movement. It is worth mentioning that only part of the injured sought medical assistance, while a significant number preferred to receive treatment at home, which provided grounds for representatives of power to propagate the thesis that the number of injured policemen was much higher than that of the protesters. It should be noted that most of the police officers who were injured sustained injuries due to the improper use of special means, and according to reports from some media outlets, the used sound grenades were also expired.
• During the clashes at the Proshyan-Demirchyan streets intersection, participants observed police officers in civilian clothes or without insignias who exhibited particularly cruel and aggressive behavior towards the assembly participants. It is necessary to remind that the presence of uniforms and individual identification details on uniforms is a legal requirement. Thus, Article 12 of the 'Law on Police' regulates the obligations of the police when maintaining public order. According to its second part, 'While ensuring public order, police officers are obliged to wear the prescribed uniform, on which clear insignia enabling the individual identification of the police officer is affixed.' Such legal regulations allow citizens to recognize or identify the police officer who approaches or detains them. Preventing illegal deprivation of freedom or potential illegal pursuit and the use of disproportionate force is aimed at adhering to international norms. The requirement for identification details to be mandatory and visible is clearly stated in point 159 of the OSCE-ODIHR Guidelines on Freedoms of Assembly.
• It is also noted that during the April-June gatherings, only in rare cases did police officers wear identification details on their uniforms. This fact was reported over a month ago by the current Human Rights Defender: 'Citizens must be able to recognize or identify the police officer who approaches or detains them. Regular monitoring and conversations with individuals have indicated occurrences of police officers in civilian clothing participating.' Furthermore, according to citizen claims, these police officers acted more aggressively and recklessly.
• The presence of individuals without uniforms or insignias among police forces again confirms that the current authorities have violently violated the law by incorporating individuals with no relation to the police system, presumably members of the security detail of a pro-government businessman, to demonstrate disproportionately cruel behavior towards the representatives of the peaceful gathering.
• The parliamentary opposition demands that from now on, all police officers maintaining public order present themselves in uniforms and insignias that comply with legal requirements at gatherings; otherwise, they cannot be regarded as officers of any police subdivision, and hence, any action or demand made by such police officers ceases to be lawful.
• Brutal and disproportionate force was also applied against media representatives covering the peaceful gathering, obstructing their professional duties. During a provocation-induced scuffle, police seized the monopod of a camera operator from one media outlet when it had fallen to the ground, afterward using it to strike demonstrators. Consequently, the operator sustained an injury to the leg, and the property belonging to the media organization was damaged. Police representatives at the Proshyan-Demirchyan streets intersection obstructed the work of journalists and operators who attempted to film the police officer throwing ASZ-40 'Sviral' sound grenades. Furthermore, it must be noted that the police's use of special measures without warning posed a danger to the health and professional activity of the media employees working in that area.
• The harsh and provocative actions against the participants of the peaceful gathering were carried out personally on the illegal order of Nikol Pashinyan. This was yet another crossing of a red line, where sound grenades are deployed against one’s own people by Pashinyan’s order, fully aware that many participants in the gathering are veterans of the 44-day war, and in the post-war period, even the noise of such measures is sufficient to provoke the gathering participants.