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Lawyer Robert Hayrapetyan says that a new article of the Criminal Code criminalizing grave insults comes into force on 30 August, stating that it runs counter to the Constitution and Armenia's international obligations.

“The first addressees of this change will be the media, and, to put it mildly, it is not clear how the media can possibly face imprisonment for any manifestation of freedom of expression,” he wrote on Facebook on Sunday.

“The amendment also contradicts the case law of the ECHR and the European Convention on Human Rights, which not only prohibits criminalization, but also the provision of special protection to government officials, arguing that officials holding public office, on the contrary, should be less protected when it comes to defamation and insult than ordinary citizens.

“In Armenia, defamation and insult were decriminalized in 2010, when the government took into account the PACE call to the member states. In fact, defamation and insult were again criminalized at the proposal of the Prosecutor General's Office.

“From August 30, the capitulators will move to fabricate new cases against their opponents,” Hayrapetyan said.