Does Not Align with Reality: Statement Released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Clarification: Within the framework of the regulations regarding the implementation of interstate search for individuals by the authorized bodies of the CIS heads of government, documentation of the wanted person has been carried out. This was announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

“On February 19, the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly published an article about the detection of a wanted person in Armenia and their invitation to the police department, stating that ‘representatives of the security agencies of the Russian Federation have invaded the police department.’”

We report that the claim regarding the ‘invasion of the police department by representatives of the security agencies of the Russian Federation’ does not correspond to reality. The individual mentioned in the article is wanted by Russian law enforcement. They were invited by the staff of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Armenia to the Metropolitan Department on February 13.

According to the framework from 2015 in Dushanbe concerning the implementation of interstate searches by authorized bodies, the representatives of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs present in Armenia were in the Metropolitan Department of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs. In compliance with point 48 of chapter 7 of the mentioned regulations, the documentation of the individual regarding the search has been carried out in the presence of Russian law enforcement, and under conditions where no preventive measures were chosen, the wanted individual was released.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs is always open for cooperation and urges the public to approach the Ministry of Internal Affairs to verify and clarify information in order to prevent possible misinformation.