The investigative bodies issued a joint statement, which reads:

“On 23 June, 2020, Ruben Vardazaryan, Chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council within the framework of Shant TV’s “Herankarner” (Perspective) program, in a conversation with Aram Abrahamyan, referring to the issue of public distrust in the judiciary, stated that we have less competent investigative bodies, improper prosecutorial oversight,” which “simply throw to court” the  low-quality investigated case. Ruben Vardazaryan also noted that “we do not have an illiterate judge.”

In this regard, we consider it necessary to clarify that the inappropriate generalized qualifications of Ruben Vardazaryan given to the above-mentioned bodies insult the employees of the preliminary investigation bodies, overshadowing the difficult, and high-responsibility work carried out by them. Of course, it is possible that there are investigators in the preliminary investigation bodies, whose professional qualities still need to be improved, but without excluding that fact, we assure you that there are many people in the investigation system today who are dedicated to their work, have brilliant legal knowledge, and have high moral and ethical qualities. Professional investigators, who spare no effort and energy to conduct an effective and high-quality investigation of even the most complex criminal cases that require a overstrain of force.

And if Ruben Vardazaryan mentions in his speech that “the swearing at any judge is perceived as swearing at 240 judges,” Mr. Vardazaryan also insulted hundreds of investigators with his assessments.

We think that the subjective assessment of the preliminary investigation bodies by the chairman of the SJC are not only justified and well-founded, but also do not follow from the status of an official and the rules of ethics.

We expect that the Chairman of the SJC, Ruben Vardazaryan, will at least publicly apologize to the employees of the preliminary investigation bodies for his insulting remarks, and from now on will show the necessary restraint, refraining from making unfounded and incorrect statements about the work of the investigative bodies.

RA Investigative Committee,

Special Investigation Service of the Republic of Armenia,

RA SRC Investigation Department.”