Phone Conversations Will Also Be Tapped by the Police: Law Passed

The National Assembly of Armenia has adopted in the second reading and in full the draft law amending the "Law on Operational-Intelligence Activities," which proposes to enable the police of Armenia to tap phone conversations.

According to Armenpress, the draft law was authored by MPs from the "My Step" faction, Armen Khachaturyan and Sipan Pashinyan. Main reporter Armen Khachaturyan stated that the current law allows the "monitoring of phone conversations" only by the Main Operational-Tactical Department operating within the framework of the Republican National Security Service, based on the mediation of authorized bodies entitled to conduct such operational-intelligence measures in accordance with this law.

The MP noted that the draft proposes for the police to independently conduct the operational-intelligence measures using their own operational-technical infrastructure, for which a program of measures needs to be presented for development.

He stated that this will also save time previously spent on interacting with the NSS and obtaining technical assistance and resolving organizational issues.

The government had given a negative conclusion on the draft.

Deputy Minister of Justice Serbukh Galoyan remarked that the adoption of the draft implies substantial financial expenditures to provide the police with the necessary technical means for conducting operational-intelligence measures. She also indicated that the development work of the draft new Criminal Procedure Code is currently underway, which will also imply systemic changes in the criminal procedural field; the "Law on Operational-Intelligence Activities" will also be amended.

The draft law was adopted with 97 votes in favor, 20 against, and 1 abstention.