YEREVAN. – For years, cases of torture in Armenia’s penitentiaries had been linked to the criminal subculture, whereas now we can state that it was not just words that we said we would fight against that subculture. Minister of justice Rustam Badasyan on Monday stated this in a talk with journalists in the National Assembly, and regarding the concerns that cases of torture against convicts have been registered in the country’s prisons in recent days.

"The fight against the criminal subculture is going on, will go on. (…) there is no need to talk about torture. Torture was linked to criminal subculture, its influence of that subculture, including as a result of its influence on the penitentiary. Now we are busy eliminating the causes of that consequence," the minister said.

He expressed confidence that he has no concerns about the applicability of the law to combat the criminal subculture in Armenia. "It is obvious that we are achieving success in the fight against criminal subculture," Badasyan said.