The YSU Incident is Widely Discussed, We Must Acknowledge That a Mistake Occurred: Pashinyan on the Detention of Apoyan

The government approved the draft decision on "The National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights in the Republic of Armenia and the Action Plan for 2020-2022." Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated, "The subtext is that when human rights must be protected in Armenia, it means human rights must be protected." He also noted that there have been cases of violence against citizens conducting peaceful gatherings in Armenia, saying, "Yes, we must acknowledge that in many cases, the police, other representatives of law enforcement, and state officials exhibit unjustified aggression towards people, and this has a specific reason—it is the lack of sufficient education, awareness, and literacy. But in order to solve this problem, we must first acknowledge it. The case at YSU has been widely discussed in recent days; we must acknowledge that a mistake occurred, and it must bear consequences. Today we have two situations: on one hand, there is a problem of excessive aggression, and when you fight against it very diligently, it begins to cause a problem of excessive passivity in the system," the Prime Minister noted.

"We will not shy away from issues; we will confront them directly. We will not avoid any problem, and there will be no organization more interested than the government in fighting against these phenomena and for human rights. I exclude such a thing. In matters related to the armed forces, there will be no one more interested than the Minister of Defense in Armenia, and that is the minister's duty and mission. No one will be more interested than the Chief of Police of Armenia in ensuring that a police officer is educated and refrains from using disproportionate force," emphasized the Prime Minister.