The Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia has issued the following press release:

“The provision of various arms and ammunition to a large number of participants of hostilities for protection from the war unleashed against Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) has posed serious risks for illicit circulation of those arms and ammunition after the hostilities.

Evidence of this are the several cases of illegal transfer of weapons and ammunition from Artsakh to Armenia and the several dozen criminal cases that have been launched under those cases.

The events unfolding in Armenia after the end of hostilites, the crimes related to those events, as well as the statements expressing positions on the inevitability or admissibility of certain actions (made in public speeches and during the rally organized at Liberty Square in Yerevan on December 5, 2020) pose risks of criminal manifestations through the illegal use of weapons and, due to this, risks posing a threat to protection of the life and health of citizens and people participating in massive rallies and public order.

Based on the abovementioned, today Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan addressed letters to the director of the National Security Service of Armenia and the Chief of Police of Armenia to immediately take necessary operational intelligence measures to prevent and reveal the cases of illicit circulation of weapons and the crimes committed through the use of those weapons and the crimes that are potentially organized with the accompaniment of violence, as well as to intensify efforts in this direction.

At the same time, the Prosecutor General’s Office calls on citizens of Armenia to refrain from committing such crimes, taking actions with calls for violence or being involved in them; otherwise, all persons committing criminal acts will be subjected to criminal liability with full strictness of the law.”