Kostanyan on Arrests at the City Hall

Yerevan City Hall Press Secretary Hayk Kostanyan stated that they agree with some of the arrests that took place at the city hall, while others raise concerns for them.

“At the beginning of the year, the head of the public order service and the head of the communal services department were arrested and then detained. In one case, the individual was detained for carrying out some kind of mediation; in another case, the official was arrested for rejecting such mediation. From this perspective, we see problematic situations. In particular, I can highlight the arrest of Aram Azatyan, the head of the Arabkir administrative district. The man has actually been detained for a year. His lawyers have submitted the case to the European Court of Human Rights. This means that the Yerevan City Hall sees certain issues regarding the alleged offenses of all its employees.

We do not see a problem with the recent arrests of former employees of the urban development and land control department because, at first glance, there is nothing problematic from the municipality’s side in this regard; of course, we do not forget the presumption of innocence. Recently, former employees of the Shengavit administrative district were also arrested; in regard to these cases, we agree, while other cases, as I mentioned, are problematic for us,” stated Kostanyan.