Iravaban.net had published an article months ago about motorcycles parked without permission near the statue of Aram Manukyan.
The issue remained relevant for some time due to the inaction of the competent state bodies, and no steps were taken to resolve the problem, which may have contained elements of a criminal offense.
To obtain clarifications on this issue, Iravaban.net online professional media contacted employees of the RA Ministry of Internal Affairs and Yerevan Municipality. The police stated that the issue was beyond their jurisdiction, and the authority to grant permission for motorcycle parking in that area belongs to the municipality. The municipality, in turn, stated that they had not granted parking permission and did not have such authority, and there was no legislative regulation on this issue, and the police should decide whether parking is allowed there or not.
As a result, no effective steps were taken by anyone.
It should also be noted that posters were attached to the parked motorcycles in the area, which stated “motorcycle for rent” in English, suggesting that profit was being made from parking the motorcycles.
Iravaban.net submitted a report (whistleblowing) against the Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Yerevan Municipality to the Haytnir.am online whistleblowing platform operated by the Armenian Lawyers’ Association, whose main goal is to promote the fight against corruption in Armenia and gain public support in the anti-corruption struggle.
In response to the submitted application, the RA Police of the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported that the officers of the Patrol Service Regiment of Yerevan had evacuated and transferred the mopeds to the specially guarded area of the Yerevan City Regiment of the Patrol Service of the RA Police using a special tow truck for parking the vehicle on the sidewalk.
Let us recall that before this, the police had stated that the issue was beyond their jurisdiction.
This case reflects a number of problems in Armenia’s public administration system: lack of inter-agency cooperation, legislative ambiguities, and unclear distribution of responsibilities. At the same time, it shows the important role of civil society and investigative journalism in solving public problems. The effectiveness of the whistleblowing system demonstrates that it is necessary to encourage the development of such mechanisms as a means of improving the transparency and accountability of public administration.
