Armen Badalyan: "The police in Armenia have become an organ for sustaining the authorities ’’

Controversies continue to shake Armenia. A few days ago several senior officials were dismissed. The prosecutor general and senior officials of the National Security Service were dismissed by the order of the President with the wording "for health reasons." The chief of the Armenian Police fired several police officers. Experts attribute these resignations to the events around the seizure of a regiment of the patrol service (PPS) in Yerevan by the armed group. Political analyst Armen Badalyan answers the questions of Vestnik Kavkaza related to the recent developments.

- How do you assess the events around the capture of the PPS regiment by the armed group ‘Sasna tsrer’ (‘Sassoon Braves’)?

- We cannot separate these events from the general situation in Armenia, which is a major concern. We are talking about colossal migration, and the decline in the economy, and about the practical absence of a judicial system. The recent events have shown once again that the police have changed from a law enforcement agency into an organ for sustaining the authorities. As a result, the idea has actualized in the minds of a small segment of society that this government understands only the language of force. If the attempt to address the issues had not been suppressed by force of arms, the events surrounding the capture of the PPS regiment would gradually have become large scale. I do not know what lessons the authorities will draw from these events. Until now the authorities have never drawn lessons.

- Can the dismissals be a sign that the authorities are reviewing their policy?

- If some process had really been started, those police and civilians who used violence against journalists would have been arrested already. These personnel changes represent only the visible part of the ongoing conflicts within the government. There are people in the government who were against the police violence. There is a hidden confrontation between the prosecutors and the police. It is possible that the police won in this confrontation. I do not rule out that the public prosecutor tried to protect the rule of law to some extent, and to lead  the police, who have grossly violated the law, into the legal field, but he did not succeed. We should not ignore the version of the prosecutor general Kostanyan’s resignation for health reasons. With regard to the dismissals from the NSS, I cannot exclude the fact that the recent events could become a convenient excuse for the new head of the National Security Council to get rid of some of the old workers.

- Did the president dismiss Kostanyan to prevent him from taking unpopular steps?

- Given the fact that the upcoming trial concerning ‘Sasna tsrer’ is unlikely to be fair, it is likely that the presidential palace, wishing to save the prosecutor general, temporarily removed him from the office. It is, in fact, the third version of the reasons for the resignation of Kostanyan, after the versions of the conflict between the prosecutors and the police, and the version of health.

- How do you feel about the allegations that the events were provoked by "external forces"?

- Four players were involved in the events – the West as represented the United States and the European Union, Russia, the Armenian government and a part of Armenian society, of course, a small one. It is no coincidence that two players –the West and Russia – have given contradictory assessments. Russia has clearly described the events as acts of terrorism. And if you carefully examine all the allegations of the West, it is obvious that the word "terrorism" is not mentioned there. I think it was a message from the Western Armenian authorities to conduct political and economic reforms. I think that the authorities understand that message, but whether they draw lessons, whether there will be a major change, I cannot say.

- Is it possible to consider these personnel changes in the context of the external pressure on Armenia?

- There is a lot of external pressure on the authorities. Therefore, we should not consider the dismissals in the same perspective. The July events were used as a pretext for some sackings. They were conducted in order to please the public, but mainly in order to demonstrate to the West that the government has drawn lessons from the incident. In fact, this fraud has nothing to do with real reform.