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Lawyer Robert Hayrapetyan, a member of the opposition Armenia bloc, deplored the passage of a bill calling for criminalization of swearing by the National Assembly on Friday.

“Thus, gravely insulting a person, including using swear words or hurting someone’s dignity in another extremely obscene manner, was criminalized.

1. If its purpose is to reduce the use of foul language on the internet, it WILL NOT work out, since most of the Armenian users are not in Armenia and this law, in fact, will not apply to them.

2. Decriminalization of defamation and insults in 2010 followed a number of instructions of the Council of Europe and ECHR judgments.

3. Swear words are mostly spread by fake users, while the fight against them is IMPOSSIBLE under the conditions of such a legislature.

“So, what is the purpose of this amendment?” he wrote on Facebook on Friday.

The lawyer stated swearing is a vague and very difficult “category” to measure, stating the draft law does not make it clear when a statement amounts to a “grave insult”.

“And, naturally, the competent authorities, having received a political order, will initiate criminal proceedings against any opponent, trying to silence them.

“The law apparently runs counter to the legislation and should be scrapped as soon as possible,” he said.