It has recently become known that Anna Vardapetyan, the Prime Minister’s Assistant on Legal Affairs, will be appointed Prosecutor General. I was not confused: she will be appointed soon because the parliamentary voting is of a formal nature, and the Civil Contract has already decided to appoint that lawyer as the Prosecutor General by the order of its leader. Let me remind you that at one point, the opposition circles sounded the alarm that the Prime Minister’s assistant was interfering in the work of the investigative bodies.
That episode was not taken seriously. I have read comments that the incumbent prosecutor Artur Davtyan could have ever shown independence, and allegedly that is why the Civil Contract members did not withdraw his candidacy again. But those naive comments really make you smile: Davtyan was making decisions in favor of the government with great diligence, by the way, not only during Pashinyan’s administration, but also during Serzh Sargsyan’s.
Now Vardapetyan will do the same. This is not the United States where the prosecutor can launch an investigation against the president. Armenia is a post-Soviet country: the “king” (whether they are called the president or prime minister) says to appoint this person as prosecutor general, that person is appointed. The “king” says to arrest someone, they are arrested, and all the prosecutors, investigators, and police are busy carrying out that order. Some judges sometimes resist, but it is a temporary phenomenon. There will be a “vetting” soon, and only those who have pledged allegiance to the revolution and “reformed” Mnatsakan Martirosyan will remain.
Since the situation is the same for 30 years, we can also state that the problem is not personal, but systemic. The political authorities are not interested in having independent courts or independent prosecutors and investigators. It is possible to write a lot on paper, and law enforcement can be very professional and effective in fighting the “enemies of the people.”
Read also
Andrei Vishinsky, by the way, was a highly qualified specialist and excellently organized the so-called “open trials.” The essence of all this does not change. And there will be changes when society starts to resist. It is not about dancing to patriotic songs in the square.
Aram Abrahamyan
