YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 7, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian authorities say the criminalization of “grave insults “was appropriate because there was an “abuse of the right of freedom of speech in Armenia”

“Because we all witnessed that there was an abuse of the right of freedom of speech in our country, that’s why it was found appropriate to make the legislative changes,” the Deputy Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan told reporters when asked to comment on the latest statement from Freedom House.

“Regarding the concerns of our partners, we hear all of them, and in the future, if some changes were to be expected, we will all witness it, but we must take into account that there is a problem and that problem should’ve been solved. For now, this is the solution so that such manifestations don’t happen in our country,” Minasyan said.

Shortly after a Yerevan court issued the first guilty verdict for “grave insults”, Freedom House issued a statement expressing concern.  

“Freedom House notes with great concern the first criminal conviction of an Armenian citizen under the new provision of the Criminal Code criminalizing “serious insults” against government officials. The enforcement of this legislation, which has resulted in the initiation of over 260 criminal cases in 2022 alone, signifies a clear degradation of democratic norms in Armenia and creates a chilling effect for free expression. We call on the parliament to revoke this law that so brazenly violates the principles enshrined in the Armenian Constitution, the country’s OSCE commitments and the European Convention on Human rights to which it is party,” Freedom House said in a statement published on social media.