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PRESS CONFERENCE OF PRESIDENT ROBERT KOCHARIAN
Azat Artsakh Daily
Published on March 21, 2008
NKR Republic
ROBERT KOCAHRIAN: Today is the last day of the state of emergency,
and it is already possible to draw some conclusions regarding last
20 days. That's why I have decided to meet with you. I am confident,
and the events prove that the introduction of the legal regime of
the state of emergency helped prevent greater losses and graver
consequences. With the introduction of the state of emergency the
situation calmed down and through definite measures it became possible
to uphold the process of stabilization. During the twenty days no
infringements of the regime have been recorded, the army and the police
have demonstrated restraint during their service, and the majority of
the population accepts these measures with consideration. As you know
through the process we have undertaken steps to reduce the number
of the servicemen, and, in addition, too times steps were taken to
mitigate the legal regime. All the state structures have been working
with no interruption, life is going back to normal, and I don't see
and factor or any reason to extend the state of emergency. Starting
tomorrow the state of emergency in the Republic of Armenia will be
lifted. My task is to secure a total stabilization of the situation,
from the viewpoint of governance we should be able to come back
to the pre-election situation. Of course, we are not talking about
the psychological factor; it will obviously require more time. In
that manageable and stable situation I should pass powers to the
President-Elect, and it will be that way. The investigating group is
working, the volume of materials is huge and the investigators are
tasked to reveal and restore the fundamental nature of the events in
their totality, to identify culprits and, certainly, to call them
to responsibility. First of all it concerns the organizers and the
instigators. And our approach, which was articulated before, remains
the same: if those who were misled or just happened to be there and
participated at the riots present themselves voluntarily and assist the
investigating group, they will be treated in a more placid way. There
are already many such examples. The state of emergency doesn't imply
any additional privileges for the law enforcement bodies regarding
the ongoing investigation and they continue to act in the framework
of the same legal field. The factual material is being collected and
today it can be stated unequivocally that the recent mass disorder was
of an organized nature. There is no doubt about that, it ranges from
the barricade construction, looting and to the acts of vandalism. I
can also add that very soon some of the indictments will be sent to
courts, because many of those charged have already pleaded guilty and
we have legally stipulated speedy court proceedings. As I said, soon
some of the cases will be handed to the courts. The court proceedings
will, of course, be open, and all of you will have an opportunity to
be fully informed.
Yerevan has always been one of the safest capitals in the world. I
am confident that today's Yerevan remains safe, however that image
was somewhat tarnished and we, working together, should do our best
to restore the Yerevan's image and high rating. What are the lessons
to be learned from the recent events? First, democracy should be able
to protect itself against the mob. I consider it to be one of the
most important lessons. We have been conducting large-scale reforms
in Armenia in different areas, in economic, state governance and
social areas. However, life shows that there is a need to strengthen
mechanisms, which are called upon protection of our citizens and
their property. The foundation of the statehood must be under legal
protection. Unfortunately, after these events it became clear that a
number of clauses that are in place in almost all European countries,
are missing in our legislation. For instance, the appeals directed
to the servicemen to leave their service, the appeals directed to
the Police at the Opera Square to join the opposition, to disregard
their duties. If these appeals were made, let's say, in Germany
these persons and the organizers of the rally would be sentenced to
up to five years in prison. In some countries the punishment is even
stricter. At the moment we study the experience of these countries,
and to protect and to strengthen the foundations of our statehood,
I am going to initiate the adoption of a corresponding legislation,
which will be much stricter than the present one. I gave you a
concrete example of the German legislation. Up until these very
events we couldn't imagine that in Armenia there are individuals,
who can make the execution of the order to disintegrate the state
their life purpose. We encountered cruel reality and must make
corresponding conclusions. I want to repeat that it is necessary to
undertake serious legislative steps towards the enforcement of the
foundation of our statehood. But those steps will not be made at the
expense of democracy; they will be made first and foremost to protect
democracy from the mob and adventurism. These steps are needed to
tame in politics the adventurism of those who are ready to sacrifice
other persons' lives to satisfy their political ambitions. Steps should
also be taken to reinforce the relevant police units and provide them
with safer and more advanced special equipment. The events revealed
that whatever equipment is being used now is dated and is not always
safe. The equipment is mostly the one we have inherited from the
Soviet times. For instance, had that special equipment been safer
the number of civilian casualties would be not seven but four.
Special investigation revealed that three casualties were the result
of the use of that special equipment and not the result of the use
of combat arms.
We have already started working in that direction and I assume that
the next government should work with one of the European states to
implement a special training program for the special police unit
as well as to equip it with modern equipment. Both in the media and
in public there is a guesswork, as of who gave the order to shoot,
was there such an order or not? Nowhere in the world the police are
waiting for a special order. Our law "On the Police Force" stipulates
that the policemen can undertake measures if there is direct danger to
his or a third person's life. Can you imagine that in other situations,
not this particular one but in general, let's say at the crime scene,
the policeman calls his chief to find out if he can take measures? Can
you imagine what would be the consequences? For that very reason the
law stipulates in detail when and in what circumstances policemen can
use weapons. Another conclusion that we should draw from these events
is the necessity of decisive steps to prevent some nongovernmental
organizations from getting involved in politics. For instance,
the investigation shows that the "Willpower test" organization of
home-guard veterans was almost totally involved and many of its members
became active participants of the disturbances. It is known that a
certain part of the "Erkrapah" leadership also participated in the
disorders. We cannot insist at the moment that the organization per se
was a partaker, today we cannot say that, the investigation will reveal
if it is the case or not, but some members did partake. In the future
similar happenings should be excluded, such an organization cannot
place itself as a "joker" in political processes, i.e. to adjust to
this or that political situation. It would be a serious threat to the
Republic of Armenia. I am also confident that the punishment for the
calls for violence or certain moves that can bring to violence must
be more severe. In this case too the experience of other countries
can be instrumental. It is obvious that in many civilized countries
solutions were found and the legislation is much harsher than that
of Armenia. Another important conclusion deals with the activities
of the government that should be more efficient for the people, more
transparent and comprehensible. This last conclusion is being much
spoken about, however I was trying to concentrate more on precise
measures, which must be taken to prevent the occurrence of similar
events in Armenia. A couple of words about the mass media. The
society suffered a serious blow, it suffered a serious trauma, which
relates not only to the casualties. It was a blow to our ideas,
to our identity.
During the first week all the faces had the same expression, same
question: did it really happen in our country, did it really happen
to us? I could not imagine that there are individuals among us who
can set ambulances, the very cars that were transporting the wounded,
to fire, and leave the wounded on the streets. I couldn't believe
it was possible that someone would loot ambulance cars. All of us
today face a very important problem: to heal that wound rather than
torment it. And with this regard much depends on you, on the steps
we will take, on how we will present this problem to our people.
Are we going to instigate new clashes, new tension or on the contrary,
we'll try to assist in bring calm? These questions can be logically
discussed in a quite situation. Even in our everyday life if two
individuals are quarreling the most reasonable thing to do is to
distance from each other, give it 2 or 3 days, to calm down a little
and only then try to ease the situation. But if one forces them
towards each other there inevitably will be another fight with much
graver consequences, and in the future it will be much more difficult
to restore relations. I am saying this realizing and being sure that
tomorrow some papers will publish lots of false information, lots of
different calls, and publications in those papers will hardly serve
the purpose of stabilization and settling down the situation.
Azat Artsakh Daily
Published on March 21, 2008
NKR Republic
ROBERT KOCAHRIAN: Today is the last day of the state of emergency,
and it is already possible to draw some conclusions regarding last
20 days. That's why I have decided to meet with you. I am confident,
and the events prove that the introduction of the legal regime of
the state of emergency helped prevent greater losses and graver
consequences. With the introduction of the state of emergency the
situation calmed down and through definite measures it became possible
to uphold the process of stabilization. During the twenty days no
infringements of the regime have been recorded, the army and the police
have demonstrated restraint during their service, and the majority of
the population accepts these measures with consideration. As you know
through the process we have undertaken steps to reduce the number
of the servicemen, and, in addition, too times steps were taken to
mitigate the legal regime. All the state structures have been working
with no interruption, life is going back to normal, and I don't see
and factor or any reason to extend the state of emergency. Starting
tomorrow the state of emergency in the Republic of Armenia will be
lifted. My task is to secure a total stabilization of the situation,
from the viewpoint of governance we should be able to come back
to the pre-election situation. Of course, we are not talking about
the psychological factor; it will obviously require more time. In
that manageable and stable situation I should pass powers to the
President-Elect, and it will be that way. The investigating group is
working, the volume of materials is huge and the investigators are
tasked to reveal and restore the fundamental nature of the events in
their totality, to identify culprits and, certainly, to call them
to responsibility. First of all it concerns the organizers and the
instigators. And our approach, which was articulated before, remains
the same: if those who were misled or just happened to be there and
participated at the riots present themselves voluntarily and assist the
investigating group, they will be treated in a more placid way. There
are already many such examples. The state of emergency doesn't imply
any additional privileges for the law enforcement bodies regarding
the ongoing investigation and they continue to act in the framework
of the same legal field. The factual material is being collected and
today it can be stated unequivocally that the recent mass disorder was
of an organized nature. There is no doubt about that, it ranges from
the barricade construction, looting and to the acts of vandalism. I
can also add that very soon some of the indictments will be sent to
courts, because many of those charged have already pleaded guilty and
we have legally stipulated speedy court proceedings. As I said, soon
some of the cases will be handed to the courts. The court proceedings
will, of course, be open, and all of you will have an opportunity to
be fully informed.
Yerevan has always been one of the safest capitals in the world. I
am confident that today's Yerevan remains safe, however that image
was somewhat tarnished and we, working together, should do our best
to restore the Yerevan's image and high rating. What are the lessons
to be learned from the recent events? First, democracy should be able
to protect itself against the mob. I consider it to be one of the
most important lessons. We have been conducting large-scale reforms
in Armenia in different areas, in economic, state governance and
social areas. However, life shows that there is a need to strengthen
mechanisms, which are called upon protection of our citizens and
their property. The foundation of the statehood must be under legal
protection. Unfortunately, after these events it became clear that a
number of clauses that are in place in almost all European countries,
are missing in our legislation. For instance, the appeals directed
to the servicemen to leave their service, the appeals directed to
the Police at the Opera Square to join the opposition, to disregard
their duties. If these appeals were made, let's say, in Germany
these persons and the organizers of the rally would be sentenced to
up to five years in prison. In some countries the punishment is even
stricter. At the moment we study the experience of these countries,
and to protect and to strengthen the foundations of our statehood,
I am going to initiate the adoption of a corresponding legislation,
which will be much stricter than the present one. I gave you a
concrete example of the German legislation. Up until these very
events we couldn't imagine that in Armenia there are individuals,
who can make the execution of the order to disintegrate the state
their life purpose. We encountered cruel reality and must make
corresponding conclusions. I want to repeat that it is necessary to
undertake serious legislative steps towards the enforcement of the
foundation of our statehood. But those steps will not be made at the
expense of democracy; they will be made first and foremost to protect
democracy from the mob and adventurism. These steps are needed to
tame in politics the adventurism of those who are ready to sacrifice
other persons' lives to satisfy their political ambitions. Steps should
also be taken to reinforce the relevant police units and provide them
with safer and more advanced special equipment. The events revealed
that whatever equipment is being used now is dated and is not always
safe. The equipment is mostly the one we have inherited from the
Soviet times. For instance, had that special equipment been safer
the number of civilian casualties would be not seven but four.
Special investigation revealed that three casualties were the result
of the use of that special equipment and not the result of the use
of combat arms.
We have already started working in that direction and I assume that
the next government should work with one of the European states to
implement a special training program for the special police unit
as well as to equip it with modern equipment. Both in the media and
in public there is a guesswork, as of who gave the order to shoot,
was there such an order or not? Nowhere in the world the police are
waiting for a special order. Our law "On the Police Force" stipulates
that the policemen can undertake measures if there is direct danger to
his or a third person's life. Can you imagine that in other situations,
not this particular one but in general, let's say at the crime scene,
the policeman calls his chief to find out if he can take measures? Can
you imagine what would be the consequences? For that very reason the
law stipulates in detail when and in what circumstances policemen can
use weapons. Another conclusion that we should draw from these events
is the necessity of decisive steps to prevent some nongovernmental
organizations from getting involved in politics. For instance,
the investigation shows that the "Willpower test" organization of
home-guard veterans was almost totally involved and many of its members
became active participants of the disturbances. It is known that a
certain part of the "Erkrapah" leadership also participated in the
disorders. We cannot insist at the moment that the organization per se
was a partaker, today we cannot say that, the investigation will reveal
if it is the case or not, but some members did partake. In the future
similar happenings should be excluded, such an organization cannot
place itself as a "joker" in political processes, i.e. to adjust to
this or that political situation. It would be a serious threat to the
Republic of Armenia. I am also confident that the punishment for the
calls for violence or certain moves that can bring to violence must
be more severe. In this case too the experience of other countries
can be instrumental. It is obvious that in many civilized countries
solutions were found and the legislation is much harsher than that
of Armenia. Another important conclusion deals with the activities
of the government that should be more efficient for the people, more
transparent and comprehensible. This last conclusion is being much
spoken about, however I was trying to concentrate more on precise
measures, which must be taken to prevent the occurrence of similar
events in Armenia. A couple of words about the mass media. The
society suffered a serious blow, it suffered a serious trauma, which
relates not only to the casualties. It was a blow to our ideas,
to our identity.
During the first week all the faces had the same expression, same
question: did it really happen in our country, did it really happen
to us? I could not imagine that there are individuals among us who
can set ambulances, the very cars that were transporting the wounded,
to fire, and leave the wounded on the streets. I couldn't believe
it was possible that someone would loot ambulance cars. All of us
today face a very important problem: to heal that wound rather than
torment it. And with this regard much depends on you, on the steps
we will take, on how we will present this problem to our people.
Are we going to instigate new clashes, new tension or on the contrary,
we'll try to assist in bring calm? These questions can be logically
discussed in a quite situation. Even in our everyday life if two
individuals are quarreling the most reasonable thing to do is to
distance from each other, give it 2 or 3 days, to calm down a little
and only then try to ease the situation. But if one forces them
towards each other there inevitably will be another fight with much
graver consequences, and in the future it will be much more difficult
to restore relations. I am saying this realizing and being sure that
tomorrow some papers will publish lots of false information, lots of
different calls, and publications in those papers will hardly serve
the purpose of stabilization and settling down the situation.