YEREVAN. – The Police of Armenia are conducting an internal investigation in connection with an Armenian News-NEWS.am video and respective report regarding an incident at Zvartnots International Airport of Yerevan. The police have informed about this in response to a written inquiry of Armenian News-NEWS.am, at the same time informing that there are features of disciplinary violation in the actions of the policemen seen in the video.

An Armenian News-NEWS.am reporter who arrived at Zvartnots on August 6 had video recorded how four policemen on duty at the airport violated the anti-epidemic rules and gave instructions without a face mask to Armenian citizens who had arrived in Armenia.

These police officers, without offering an alternative, were forcing these Armenian citizens to take a COVID-19 test for 15,000 drams (approx. US$30) at the respective labs operating at the airport, whereas the Armenian law allows citizens to make use of the possibility of mandatory hospitalization or isolation.

In an article published the same day, Armenian News-NEWS.am wrote that the Armenian government's health and labor inspectorate and the police sometimes act as mediators to leave the airport without taking a coronavirus test, or being tested at an affordable price.

And in order to check what was said, we had urged the law enforcement to examine the one-day recordings of the video cameras of Zvartnots International Airport.