OSCE Yerevan Office responds
On February 22, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan, Ambassador Andrey Sorokin appealed to RA Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan with a letter in which he particularly addressed the events taking place near Mashtots Park in Yerevan.
Stating that one of the directions for cooperation between the OSCE and the RA Police is the improvement of the level of confidence and mutual understanding between the police and civil society, the Ambassador mentioned that the police officers have been restraint toward the demonstrators to this day.
In general, the police officers have paid heed to one of the main elements of the democratic law-enforcement, that is, the response of the police has to be proportionate to the level of the threat that has been presented in any measure that is related to social order. In this case, the police have been restraint during the unarmed and peaceful demonstration.
Andrey Sorokin also welcomed the police officers' initiative to organize a roundtable discussion with the purpose of discussing the role of police in these types of situations and voiced hope that that would also turn into a step toward the strengthening of confidence in society and the development of cooperation with the society.
