The work of an investigator is risky both physically as well as emotionally and psychologically. Working with an overloaded schedule, interacting with people from different layers of the society, and managing emotions inevitably have a negative impact on both physical and psychological health. Mr.This was Arman Abrahamyan, the Head of Division of Investigation of Grave Crimes of Yerevan City Department of the Investigative Committee of the RA, first class counselor of justice said in the framework of “The Investigator Presents” series of interviews of Iravaban.net.
– Mr. Abrahamyan, you have been working in the law enforcement system for 13 years. You have held various positions, rising from an ordinary investigator to the position Head of Division of Investigation of Grave Crimes of Yerevan City Department of the Investigative Committee. Have you ever taken such a step while performing your service duties that you regret, or perhaps you thought that you failed in some matter, made a mistake?
– The investigator’s work has always been and remains overloaded. Moreover, the workload is manifested in physical, mental and emotional aspects. Taking into account that each of the actions prohibited by the Criminal Code refers to an important sphere of public life, therefore, one should be even more careful and prudent. During my 13 years of work, I have taken the sense of responsibility towards my conscience as a basis and a guiding force, as a result of which, acting always within the limits of the law, I have not taken any steps that cause regret. As for the shortcomings, I can say that none of us are infallible, but in the course of my work, I have not had a single shortcoming that could lead to the violation of someone’s rights.
– Isn’t it emotionally difficult to lead a department where you deal with serious crimes on a daily basis? Can you remember any incident when you were significantly affected while investigating a case? 
– I associate the work of an examiner to the work of a doctor and a teacher. Each of these three professions significantly affects a person’s destiny, quality of life and course. Regardless of the severity of the crime, we always deal with people’s destinies, rights, freedoms, as a result of which different emotions always arise. However, one of the complications of the investigator’s work is not being guided by emotions and not accepting them as a basis. The most pronounced emotional event of the last period was the tragedy that happened in the “Surmalu” shopping center.
– In general, does the investigator have to possess certain qualities in order to psychologically adapt to constantly dealing with serious, complex and multi-layered crimes, communicating with the people who commit them?
– You know, the work of an investigator is the most difficult work for me. And I am not saying this to overestimate or dramatize our work. As you know and as I mentioned, the actions prohibited by the Criminal Code refer to different spheres of human relations, and for the effective investigation of these crimes, the investigator must delve into each of those relations, spheres. For me, one of the most important qualities of an investigator is to be curious, smart, have the ability to quickly recognize the people passing by the case, to quickly understand their interests, because, in my opinion, these qualities are the key to effective investigation of crimes.
– Since we were talking about the department you lead, we would like to know what kind of crimes prevail in the proceedings you investigated.
– The Division of Investigation of Grave Crimes of Yerevan City Department of the Investigative Committee of the RA investigates crimes of an economic nature, as well as cases of other crimes of a special nature, which involve large-scale criminal activities.
– Since the year has already ended, we would like to know, judging by the comparative dynamics of the department’s proceedings in 2022 and 2023, what trends have we had in terms of serious crimes in the capital?
– Taking into account the criminal and criminal procedural changes that took place in 2022, in particular the abolition of the stage of preparation of materials and the investigation, the number of criminal proceedings has increased significantly. It should be kept in mind that serious crime cases are also being investigated in the territorial divisions of the RA Criminal Investigation Department, so I cannot say anything about their dynamics in the capital at the moment, the picture will be complete after the annual summary of the RA Criminal Investigation Department, which is in process now.
– It is known that the terms of the preliminary investigation have been reduced. What difficulties has this caused for you and your partners in terms of ensuring the quality and efficiency of the preliminary investigation?
– According to the new Criminal Procedure Code, deadlines for criminal prosecution have been established and the preliminary investigation period has been abolished. In this regard, I can say that we did not face any major difficulties, considering that the investigators of the Investigative Committee of the RA have shown and are showing due diligence in order to reveal the objective truth and resolve the course of the proceedings. However, against the background of the changes, the workload of the investigators has significantly increased.
– And how does it relate to managing the work schedule, combining the work-family relations?
– It is actually a very difficult question, because in investigative work it is almost impossible to plan any action unrelated to work. However, in internal work processes, we try to combine and balance family-work relations as much as possible.
– Grave crimes are increasingly becoming a topic of public interest. As a specialist, what is your opinion, to what extent there is a need to disclose details of such cases to the public.
– Regardless of the severity of the crime, information should be provided to the public in the amount that will not harm the effectiveness of the preliminary investigation and the detection of crimes. The need for this is determined by the fact that our citizens are informed about the mechanisms and methods of execution of crimes in order to reduce the risk of becoming a victim of crime as much as possible. In addition, the public has the right to know how state bodies operate, which are called by the Constitution and laws to protect the legal system, their rights, and provide a safe environment for their activities.
It is also very important that the public receives the right signals about both the general state of crime and the fight against it as well as about the results. In this regard, in my opinion, in addition to the extent that the state bodies are responsible for initiating the application of correct structures of communication with the public, our mass media is also responsible in terms of presenting an objective image and situation.
– Are friends and family members interested in crime cases? Do you share existing concerns with them?
– When answering the previous question, I mentioned that the information about the preliminary investigation should be provided to the public only in the necessary volume. Family members and friends are no exception. I discuss and share work concerns with colleagues. And knowing this, the people around me do not try to get such information that may contain a pre-trial secret.
– Do you think that in case of toughening the punishment for a crime, it would be possible to reduce the number of crimes or are other mechanisms needed?
– I think that in order to fight against crimes, it is necessary to continuously monitor them in order to find out the reason for committing the crime, the conditions that give rise to it. Only as a result of identifying the causes of crime and eliminating them, the number of crimes can be significantly reduced. The inevitability of detection is also an effective way to combat crime, that is, if a person realizes before committing a crime, that his deed will inevitably be revealed, it can deter him from committing a crime. And here, only the imposition of severe punishment, without the above-mentioned mechanisms listed by me, cannot be an effective measure in the fight against crime.
– In which cases you will not compromise while performing service duties?
-Unlike citizens, we, officials, can only do what we are authorized to do. Consequently, the process of reaching “compromises” is also provided by the law and implies the satisfaction of certain requirements provided by the law to the accused.
– The advice you give to your colleagues as a leader.
– As a manager, I advise my colleagues to be vigilant, attentive, balanced, never give in to emotions, constantly expand their professional knowledge and maintain a good reputation as an investigator both at work and in their free time.
This initiative, implemented in cooperation with the RA Investigative Committee and the Iravaban.net website, aims to properly present to the public the main directions of the work carried out by the preliminary investigation body, to reflect on the peculiarities of pre-trial proceedings and other issues of public importance.
