“There have been many cases when we spent the night at work,” Levon Kajaznuni, Deputy Head of the Division of Investigation of Grave Crimes of Investigative Department of Yerevan of the Investigative Committee said, within the framework of “Investigator Presents” series of interviews of Iravaban.net.

We talked with Mr. Kajaznuni about the investigator’s work, difficulties and fraud as well.

– Mr. Kajaznuni, you were recognized as the best investigator of the year of the Investigative Committee. Can you tell what distinguished you in 2023?

– I was distinguished for my work, because the person who has done a good job is recognized as the “Best Investigator”, based only on that criterion. Work done during preliminary investigation in criminal proceedings, quality of work, quantity, workload, and why not for human qualities as well.

– Which cases, as the Deputy Head of the Division of Investigation of Grave Crimes, were under your direct control, and what were their characteristics?

– Taking into account the special nature of the department, almost every case examined in the department for the investigation of grave crimes has its sound, severity, differing from criminal proceedings in some circumstance. The investigation is assigned to the Division of Investigation of Grave Crimes, so it would be difficult for me to note any of them, as each is important and resonant in its own way.

– How did you decide to choose the work of an investigator? Was it a childhood dream?

– No, it was not a childhood dream. I made that decision, having a person working in the same system in the family, my father, I liked that job, and I decided to continue his path.

– It is constantly mentioned that the investigators work very hard. Can you mention if there were any cases when you spent the night at work?

– There have been many such cases, but it was not forcibly, it was due to work, because in order to perform certain actions urgently, it is necessary to spend the night here, work at night, so that the work and actions to be performed are ready in the morning. In the grave crimes department, that is, during the last five years, there have been quite a lot of such days.

– Can you name the last case that made you to stay longer at work?

– 10 days ago in the case of attempted murder in Ajapnyak administrative district, we spent the night in the administrative building, not only me, but also the entire staff.

– How many investigative cases have you conducted at the same time?

– In the Division of Investigation of Grave Crimes, the number reached up to 15-20, and in the regional departments it was more, up to 30-35, although I mention this about the period when I worked years ago, because currently the areas are more overloaded, it even exceeds 100. At the moment, the workload is less and that is normal.

– Are there investigative activities that are more attractive and more interesting in the process of preliminary investigation,?

– Having more than 10 years of investigative experience, it will be difficult for me to note any investigative case, because each of those had its own characteristics, interesting aspects, but in my subjective opinion, the most interesting for me are the searches, the inspections of the scene, that is, such investigative actions that are carried out are outside the office.

– Let’s talk a little more objectively. Have there been cases, or maybe there are signs by which you decide that the questioned citizen is lying?

– If you mean the behavior of a person, then it will be difficult for me to make such a claim, because, in my opinion, every person performs certain movements, actions, expressions in different situations, that is, it cannot be said unequivocally that every person performing a given action is lying. Basically, we make claims about lying as a result of the analysis of data obtained in criminal proceedings.

– Who lies more, men, women or children?

– It can be said that everyone is lying, because we are talking about the investigative body, criminal proceedings. Basically, everyone lies if it is about a person who is suspected or accused of committing an act, so I cannot make a distinction.

– What is the first thing that comes to your mind when talking about your work,?

– Taking into account, as I mentioned, every criminal proceeding examined and examined in the serious crime investigation department has its own uniqueness, sound, and importance, so it will be difficult for me to remember any criminal proceeding that was examined before. I remembered the last case, which I already mentioned.

– Have there been cases when you received threats related to any criminal proceedings? What have you done in such cases?

– No, there was no such incident; therefore I did not take any action.

– Have you ever met on the street those accused in the cases investigated by you or persons whose convictions have been served, how did they behave?

– There were such occurrences, but their behavior was very adequate, they just greeted, and passed, no incident happened.

-Which jobs are the most difficult both mentally and in terms of the volume of work? Have there been times when you wanted to forget the details of a particular case?

– The criminal proceedings in which the victims are minors are definitely psychologically difficult, that is, every crime against minors is mentally very difficult for me both to examine, to communicate with the person who committed the crime, to be objective. I try to remember those criminal proceedings as little as possible and forget those, which have already been examined. During the years of working in the investigative department of Avan and Nor Nork Administrative Districts, I examined such proceedings regarding the lewd acts against a minor.

– Do you follow the ongoing court investigations and verdicts in your cases? Have you attended the trial?

– I follow the stage of the trial from open sources, whether a guilty verdict has been or will be made against the person or not according to the stages of the investigation. As a result of monitoring, I can also reveal the omissions and mistakes made during the preliminary investigation, and exclude them during future proceedings. I have never participated in a criminal trial. Considering my position, status, I refrain from participating, because it may be misunderstood by the defense side.

– Do you believe that the penitentiary institutions in the RA today help people to change?

– Definitely, I think so, because in many cases, having been in penitentiary institutions for the purpose of conducting investigative activities, it is quite an unpleasant phenomenon to have the iron door close behind you, I can say that because I have not been on the other side, I do not know, but I think it is quite difficult and heavy when you are limited in your location, actions, daily life. According to me, in order to avoid it, a person should not commit a crime.

– There have been terrible incidents in the recent period (Pemzashen, cases of mother humiliating and beating a child on live TV, committing sexual acts against an elderly woman, etc.). After that citizens began talking about the death penalty. What is your opinion about this, is there a need to restore the death penalty?

– I think no, because, according to my subjective opinion, the death penalty is a very easy punishment for such phenomena, just deprivation of life and that is it, and life imprisonment, in my opinion, is a much more severe punishment, and these people should live a very long, rather long and live a life in the penitentiary institution.

– Considering all this, is there time left for family and personal life?

– The family cannot understand, because I never take the mood of my work and stressful situation home, I leave those at the workplace. There is time for the family, it is true, not as much as we would like, it seems to me, not only me, but also almost all the investigators working in the Investigative Committee, but if you want to spend time with your family, you will definitely find that time, regardless of what time you come home.. When I became an investigator, my family was limited to father, mother, and sister. Mother and sister were had a passive position, father was definitely happy when his son tried to move forward in his own way, and after I got married, I had been working for quite a long time, now I have adapted to it.

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.