Expert: Protection by the state and the law of only a part of society  contradicts constitutional principles and is a priori unacceptable

ArmInfo. Amendments to the law "On Amendments to the Civil Code of Armenia "criminalizing insults and defamation, are inherently unconstitutional. President of the  Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardian expressed such an opinion to  ArmInfo.

"The content of this law in itself is a clear proof of its  selectivity. Despite the enumeration of various categories of public  persons in the law, which supposedly also implies their protection  from insults and slander, we are well aware that this whole process  is aimed at protecting high-ranking officials. And of course, the  punishment of those, who insult these officials. In principle, there  was not the slightest doubt about all this from the very beginning,  "he said.  Earlier, the Armenian parliament approved the amendments  to the draft law "On Amendments to the Civil Code of Armenia"  proposed by the then Deputy Speaker Alen Simonyan. In accordance with  the amendments, the amount of compensation for insult is increased  from one million to three million drams, and for libel - from two to  six million drams. Libel and insult were decriminalized in Armenia in  2010 as a result of the fact that the government took into account  the corresponding appeal of the PACE to the member states of the  organization.

In this regard, the expert expressed regret that the President of the  country did not exercise his right in this context and did not apply  in this regard to the Constitutional Court for compliance of the  draft law with the Constitution of the country. Thus, the society has  exhausted the internal protocol possibilities for the protection of  the Constitution in this matter. In this light, in his opinion, one  can only hope for the self-awareness of the country's authorities.   Nevertheless, in Navasardian's opinion, the government and the  parliamentary majority do not always listen and generally pay  attention to both Armenian and foreign public organizations in  general, and their opinion, in particular. In this light, the expert  connects possible changes in the position of the country's official  authorities only with the prospect of relevant critical statements by  the Council of Europe and the OSCE. In his opinion, this may be the  only way out of the situation.

"The problem is that the law" On Amendments to the Civil Code of  Armenia "is far from the only one. In recent years, a number of  legislative acts and decisions have been adopted that contradict the  very principles of democracy to which, in words, the authorities of  our country continue to express their loyalty. It is obvious, that if  the prosecutor's office begins to study all cases of insults and  slander against public figures, then there will simply not be enough  resources for this. And a situation in which only a part of society  is protected by law is contrary to constitutional principles and is  unacceptable a priori, "Navasardyan summed up.