Minister of Justice introduces new head of Penitentiary Service Artur Goyunyan to staff

Today, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Rustam Badasyan introduced newly appointed head of the Penitentiary Service of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artur Goyunyan to the staff of the Service.

The Minister greeted the staff of the Penitentiary Service and expressed confidence that all members of the staff are aware of the complicated tasks that they are assigned to complete with a sense of responsibility. "There is a lot of work to do. The issues are not issues that can be solved in a day, a month or even a year. However, through our daily activities, we must show that things are changing, and the changes have to be visible and measurable," the Minister of Justice said.

Rustam Badasyan expressed gratitude to former head of the Penitentiary Service Artyom Mkhoyan for the contributions that he has made in the penitentiary sector and the service that he has provided to Armenia and wished him more achievements in his future career.

Introducing newly appointed head Artur Goyunyan to the staff of the Service, the Minister noted that Goyunyan has rich experience, has worked in the law-enforcement system, in particular in the Prosecutor General’s Office and within investigative bodies, and is a decent and professional person who is devoted to his job.

Touching upon the future actions, Minister Badasyan noted that there are constantly talks about the ideas of re-socialisation of convicts, correction of convicts, the shift from punitive justice to restorative justice, but, in reality, nobody knows how to do it. "This is a systemic issue. It is conditioned neither by people nor the administration and executors. This issue is conditioned by the fact that we have not asked ourselves this question and have not answered it," the Minister noted and, with this regard, he attached importance to close co-operation between the policy-making body — the Ministry of Justice — and penitentiary bodies.

Former head of the Penitentiary Service Artyom Mkhoyan expressed gratitude to Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan for trusting him with management of the penitentiary system for more than a year and to the staff of the Penitentiary Service for the joint efforts and wished everybody good and safe service.

Artur Goyunyan, the newly appointed head of the Penitentiary Service, also expressed gratitude to the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia and the Minister of Justice for trusting him with the position of head of the Penitentiary Service, noting that he has a high sense of responsibility for implementation of the exclusive mission he has assumed. He assured that he will consistently continue reforming the system to the best of his ability and by mobilising the existing healthy potential.