Several NGOs call on OSCE/ODIHR to draw attention on the fact that law-enforcement agencies of Armenia do not want to investigate cases of election fraud

• Tuesday, March 5, 18:33

 On February 18 2013, Armenia held presidential elections that were accompanied with gross violations reported by a numerous organizations and individuals. In this respect, Europe in Law Association and Transparency International Anticorruption Center voice their concern over the reluctance of the Armenian law enforcement bodies to detect criminal cases and the illegal acts tended to conceal the crime.

On 18 February, 2013, the Armenian Non-Governmental Organization Europe in Law Association conducted an observation mission in 14 polling stations in the constituency no 17, which covers the town of Artashat and several of its neighbouring villages. The Europe in Law Association's team of observers worked in these polling stations together with journalists invited by the organization. In the course of the observation, the Europe in Law Association's team detected numerous cases of electoral fraud, including ballot-box stuffing, multiple voting, abuse of administrative resource, intimidation of and pressures on observers and journalists. On the day of voting and afterwards, the Europe in Law Association's observers made several reports to the police, and the Police in Artashat and the Special Investigative Service have instituted criminal cases based on several of our reports. 

We further call on the OSCE/ODIHR to pay special attention to the practices of the Armenian law enforcement bodies to investigate and detect the election-related fraud.