YEREVAN. – Former chief of the Armenian police Alik Sargsyan said he bears no relation to the case of opposition activist Tigran Arakelyan.

If Tigran Arakelyan applies for interrogation of former police chief, he must apply for questioning of other officials as well, Sargsyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Arakelyan, activist of the opposition Armenian National Congress, have applied for interrogation of Sargsyan in connection with his controversial statements regarding the arrest.

“How can chief of police have connection with the case? Maybe we should invite more heads of other departments, maybe even ministers? I have nothing to do with the case. This is like asking about my links to the train crash in Spain. I do not want to answer,” former police official told the agency.

A clash occurred between the ANC activists and police officers on Aug. 9, 2011. Police detained seven activists and instigated a criminal case bringing charges in hooliganism and violence against authority representative. At the same time, the activists claimed that the police officers have severely beaten them.

 The First Instance Court sentenced Tigran Arakelyan to 6, Artak Karapetyan to 3, Sargis Gevorgyan and Davit Kiramijyan to 2 years in jail on July 20. The Criminal Court of Appeals had upheld this ruling, and therefore the activists’ attorneys had submitted to the Court of Cassation their objections to this verdict. As a result, six of the young activists were released on signature bond, whereas Arakelyan had remained under arrest