Ruben Hayrapetyan Apologized to Arman Veziryan

Helsinki Association for human rights in Armenia condemns the fact that on July 8, 2012 in front of Harsnaqar restaurant complex Ruben Hayrapetyan subjected violence towards the Helsinki Association observer Arman Veziryan, which occurred on mission of realizing the “freedom of peaceful meetings in RA” observation.
We appreciate this incident as an act against human rights activities, as it’s not the first case when the Helsinki Association workers are being subjected to violence, connected with law-protection act, mainly to the head of the organization and other observers which have been concealed by law enforcement authorities or it hadn’t been processed.
Cases like these are a result of the wrong policy lead by the Armenian Government, as due appreciation of the case hasn’t been given, although RA President in his numerous decrees stated the importance of changes in the legislative system. According to the Criminal Procedure Code of RA, Article 176, one of the cases to arise a criminal case are Mass Media transmissions about the crime, and Mass Medias spread information about the case, so the Helsinki Association is waiting for the reaction of authorities.
P.S. at the moment we were trying to send the announcement to Mass Medias Ruben Hayrapetyan called Arman Veziryan and apologized to him, stating that he regretted for what he’d done.