Ishkhanyan: policemen in Armenia lack legal knowledge

Behaviour of policemen during rallies shows that they often lack understanding of the legislation. This was stated by Avetik Ishkhanyan, chairman of the Armenian Helsinki Committee, who suggested organizing special legal training courses for policemen.

The report "Monitoring of Freedom of Peaceful Demonstrations in Armenia" prepared by Mr Ishkhanyan covers the period from September 26, 2008, to June 30, 2009. The report notes that most of the rallies were political; and in the course of them not always legitimate policemen's actions were registered: application of force, detentions and dispersals of protesters.

The officials of the Yerevan-based offices of the OSCE and the Council of Europe, who were present at the report presentation, emphasized the need for the freedom of peaceful demonstrations.