Minister Zeynalyan awards officers of the Police

Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artak Zeynalyan participated in the solemn session dedicated to the 101^st anniversary of Police Day.

The Minister congratulated police officers on Police Day and noted that, from now on, in new Armenia where power was established by the will of the people, a police officer should not and will not be perceived as a person having the power of a state bailiff or as a person enforcing coercive measures. "A police officer must be perceived as a human rights activist, as a state servant protecting human rights and as a person who acts on behalf and for the sake of the people ," Artak Zeynalyan said and added that, in this case, when the society is in solidarity, if this social pact is renewed in the course of each election, a police officer will have a very slight burden, as every citizen will become the bearer of statehood, the defender of lawfulness, and the police officer will become a citizen’s messenger and the person fulfilling the will of the citizen.

According to the Minister, the Police are on the frontline for protection of human rights, and on this frontline, it encounters a person suspected of crime, offence and, at this point, the obligations of this person — internationally assumed and reserved to the authorities by the Constitution — start to become valid. "It is the case when the police officer must use his or her knowledge and his or her humanity to make sure the human right is not violated, not because sooner or later, at some point, the European Court or any international court will find a violation or the state budget of Armenia will bear financial losses, but because human rights will be violated," Minister Artak Zeynalyan said and confidently emphasised that the practice to obtain evidence through torture is in the past. "When we read the facts stated in the judgements of the European Court of Human Rights on the events that took place in 2003, after that or when we present them to young human rights defenders, advocates and students, they get surprised that this has happened in Armenia. Yes, that is all in the past, and today, I am happy that we can congratulate not only police officers, but also each other on this professional holiday because this is also our holiday," the Minister said and congratulated everyone on the 101^st anniversary of Police Day of the Republic of Armenia and awarded 11 officers of the police system of the Republic of Armenia with Letters of Gratitude of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia for performing official duties in good faith and with a high sense of responsibility.