Human Rights Defender Comments on Video of Police Using Force Against Citizen

The incident is concerning in itself. Immediately after the video was released, I instructed my staff to contact the relevant state authorities to initiate criminal proceedings. This was stated by Human Rights Defender Anahit Manasyan during a press briefing, regarding the incident involving a police officer.

"One of the biggest issues is not so much the timelines for initiating proceedings but the problems concerning the examination of cases. In many cases, the investigation is not conducted without delay, which naturally leads to problematic situations concerning evidence and other related issues. In this regard, I emphasize the importance of the relevant bodies considering the urgency of investigating cases," said Manasyan.

It was reported the day before by the Human Rights Defender's office that an investigation was launched in the Defender's office immediately after the video was published by a journalist on February 3. It should be noted that a video had circulated online showing a representative of law enforcement using force and shouting at a citizen to extract a statement.

Regarding the video involving the police officer, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Narek Sargsyan, stated that a service investigation has been initiated within the Ministry's internal security and anti-corruption department, and the powers of the officer seen in the video have been suspended.