Accordiong to police data presented by him during a parliamentary hearing in Yerevan, the total number of officially recorded criminal offenses has risen by an average of 11 percent annually since 2019. The steady increase appears to have been primarily driven by a surge in trafficking cases, illegal arms possession and gun violence.
The situation with crime is prompting growing concern from not only opposition figures and civil society members but also pro-government politicians. Andranik Kocharian, the pro-government chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on defense and security, organized the hearing to discuss the problem with Ghazarian and the heads of other law-enforcement agencies.
“It has to be said that the police practice of concealing crimes has been almost fully eliminated, a fact which has also contributed to the crime statistics,” Ghazarian told about two dozen lawmakers present at the hearing.
The minister said that the country's traditionally low crime rate has also been boosted by general amnesties declared by the current Armenian authorities and an increased number of criminal suspects not remanded in pre-trial custody. He complained that last year Armenian courts overturned almost one-fifth of 2,533 arrest warrants issued by investigators.
“For example, a person who sold narcotics was released on bail and committed robbery, theft, hooliganism as well as illegally possessded weapons and drugs,” he said. “Another person who committed burglary was released on bail, after which he committed four more burglaries.”
Ghazarian went on to defend the police record on combatting drug-related crimes that have skyrocketed since 2018, doubling in 2023 alone. In particular, he said that the police have “limited powers” at Armenia’s border crossing with Iran which he described as the main conduit for drugs trafficked into the country. He also complained about a lack of police access to social media networks “through which drug trafficking is mainly carried out.”
The remarks were meant to address widespread discontent with the police’s failure to prevent the rapid spread of drug trafficking and abuse. Hovik Aghazarian, another pro-government lawmaker, wondered whether it would have been possible “without the patronage of high-ranking officials.”
“We do not have such information,” replied Ghazarian.
There has also been a sharp rise in armed robberies, shootouts and other firearm-related crimes. The number of such crimes reported by law-enforcement authorities soared by 40 percent, to 94, last year. Citing these and other alarming figures, Daniel Ioannisian, a well-known civic activist monitoring the security apparatus, claimed in July that the Armenian police have become less competent, professional and efficient in the last several years.