Armenian police has no fears about the rally forthcoming on March 1

There are no concerns with the police as to the rally to be held on March 1; the law enforcement bodies are sure that "people will calmly come to the rally and pay tribute to last year's casualties." This was stated by Alik Sarkisyan, Chief of the Police of the Republic of Armenia, in a press conference on February 27.

"We're the victims of those events too, and we also plan to commemorate our casualties and take part in all events actions," Alik Sarkisyan has noted and emphasized that law enforcement bodies are completely ready to protect public order on March 1.

As to the report of the Human Rights Watch, where actions of the police on March 1, 2008, were qualified as inadequate and disproportional, the Chief of the Police has agrees that policemen had acted too slow.

"I'm not defending the actions of the police on March 1," he said, "but I accuse them that the police found themselves in an unforeseen situation and failed to quickly look about, therefore policemen had also suffered. Policemen exhibited sluggishness and failed to completely control the situation; otherwise, it could be possible to avoid what happened on March 1."

At the same time, the Chief of the Police has stated that on March 1 policemen did nothing unlawful, but just performed their duties. "I don't share the opinion that the police was breaching human rights," he has emphasized. "Policemen only guarded the public order, and naturally, there could be victims in this process."

Mr Sarkisyan has advised the foreign organizations, making this sort of estimates of Armenia, to look back at their own countries, "where truncheons are also used."

In reply to journalists' retorts that "people are lost in the process," Alik Sarkisyan objected that "it's not correct to compare Armenia with France, and the Armenian opposition with the French one." "Oppositionists in France hold peaceful actions, while appeals of the Armenian opposition threaten the foundations of the state," he said and advised the opposition to use "more civilized methods of struggle."

On February 27, the Armenian National Congress (ANC) promulgated a statement with an appeal not to give in to provocations. Levon Zurabyan, coordinator of the ANC's central office, told journalists that the opposition had warned the police not to cause people's indignation with their actions and provocations.