Evaluating the Activities of the 'Soros' Office is Not Within My Authority, Says Head of the Special Investigative Service

The head of the Special Investigative Service, Sasun Khachatryan, stated today in a conversation with journalists that he did not see a report of a crime in the recent statements made by former National Security Service director Artur Vanetsyan.

The comments were regarding Vanetsyan's assertion that the 'Soros' office poses a threat to the national security of Armenia. "Contact Mr. Vanetsyan; I believe he will elucidate. Evaluating the activities of the 'Soros' office is not within my authority; I am the head of the pre-investigation body, so please ask me questions related to our ongoing cases," said Khachatryan.

As previously reported, the head of the Special Investigative Service also addressed a criminal case initiated in connection with a recently circulated video online titled 'Police Extracting Testimonies Using Tear Gas and Batons.' In response to a question about why the criminal case was opened under the article concerning the abuse of official authority instead of the article on torture, Khachatryan explained: "According to preliminary data, this incident occurred between 2008 and 2010. At that time, Article 309.1, which pertains to responsibility for torture, was not yet adopted. Therefore, even with a great desire, we could not have initiated a case under that article."

One journalist attempted to ascertain whether former police chief Vladimir Gasparyan was aware of the incident and if he had any connection to it. Khachatryan replied, "Do you want me to state what has been clarified by the investigation? The investigation has only been ongoing for 2 days..." He noted that it is still unclear whether all participants in the incident were police officers.