26 criminal cases in total were initiated in several subdivisions of the RA Investigative Committee on criminal acts allegedly committed by the persons involved in mass assemblies, marches that have started in Yerevan since September 19.

They referred to involvement in mass disorders, making calls for it, using violence and making public appeals aimed at justifying violence, spoilage of property, hooliganism accompanied with violence against people, illegally carrying cold weapon, interfering in the police officers’ activity.

One of the criminal proceedings, connected with calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order through a social net, was sent to the Investigative Department of the RA National Security Service under the investigative subordination.

Within the rest of the criminal proceedings investigated in the subdivisions of the RA Investigative Committee 45 persons in total were arrested on suspicion of committing various criminal acts. A decision on arrest of 7 more persons was made to be submitted to court, appropriate assignments were given to the inquest body to find them.

Criminal prosecution was initiated against 49 persons, in total

• against 39 of which for involvement in mass disorder (Article 327 of RA Criminal Code),
• against 4 – for making public calls for public disorder (Article 328 of RA Criminal Code),
• against 2 – for committing hooliganism in a group (the Point 1 of the Part 2 of the Article 297 of RA Criminal Code),
• against 1 – for interfering in legal service or political activity of the official by using violence (the Part 3 of the Article 452 of RA Criminal Code),
• against 1 – for illegal turnover of narcotic drugs with the purpose of sale ( the Part 1 of the Article 393 of RA Criminal Code),
• against 1 – for illegally carrying cold weapon (the Part 1 of the Article 334 of RA Criminal Code),
• against 1 – for making public calls for violence and justifying violence using information technology (the Article 327 of RA Criminal Code).
• Motions were submitted to court to choose detention as a pretrial measure against 39 of those under criminal prosecution 5 of which were sufficed and the persons were taken to the penitentiary, 34 are still in the process of discussion.

Absence ban was chosen as a pretrial measure against 3 defendants.

Preliminary investigation within all the criminal proceedings is ongoing. Within the framework of them the process of personalization of the criminal acts committed by numerous people involved in mass disorder is ongoing through appropriate investigative actions as well as examination of numerous videos. The inquest body was assigned to identify them, arrest and bring them to the investigative body.

The examination of the materials of the initiated criminal proceedings proves that minors in particular, who are residents of both Armenia and Artsakh, are involved in the mass disorder threatening public order. This is also evidenced by the fact that 4 of the arrested persons are minors.

The coordinators and organizers of the meetings, as well as parents are urged to keep minors under control and not to allow them to be involved in such crimes with a high degree of public danger as involvement in mass disorder accompanied with violence, threatening public security which is punished with imprisonment for the term of 4 to 8 years.