March 1,2008, and further processes revealed all the pitfall in the Armenian judicial and police systems, RA Minister of Justice Hrair Tovmasyan stated at his January 19 with Thomas Hammarberg, CE Commissioner for Human Rights.

The Minister’s task is to identify and remove the causes of the pitfalls, Tovmasyan said.

Karine Kalantaryan, Press Secretary of the RA Ministry of Justice, informed NEWS.am that the sides discussed the release of the nine persons that have to date been in custody in connection with the March 1, 2008, events, as well as the issue of identifying the causes of ten deaths and punishing the ones guilty.

Speaking of the conditions in Armenia’s penitentiary institutions Minister Tovmasyan pointed out the need for radical reforms.

Sharing the Minister’s concern, Mr. Hammarberg said that other types of punishment practiced in Europe are often more effective than imprisonment.

European experience shows lower number of repeated offences when imprisonment is replaced with other types of punishment, Tovmasyan said.

He also informed the European official of the amendments to be made to Armenian laws this year.