ArmInfo.On January 24, the National Assembly of Armenia elected former First Deputy Minister of Justice Kristine Grigoryan to the post of Human Rights Defender by secret ballot.
Of the 107 MPs of the National Assembly of Armenia, 68 took part in the voting. All of them voted "for" the candidate of the ruling faction.
On December 17, the Commission for the Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs approved the nomination of Deputy Minister of Justice Kristine Grigoryan for the post of Human Rights Defender. The ruling faction put forward the candidacy, due to the fact that the term of office of the current Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan expires on February 23, 2022, and the authorities have repeatedly stated that they do not intend to re-elect him.
As Vladimir Vardanyan, MP from the ruling "Civil Contract" faction, stated presenting her candidacy, Grigoryan was born in 1981 in the city of Sevan. In 2016-2017 she worked as a national human rights expert for the Council of Europe. She has two higher educations - in the field of jurisprudence and oriental studies. She has almost 12 years of professional work experience, mainly in state bodies. On July 3, 2019, she was appointed Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, on April 6, 2021 - First Deputy Minister of Justice. "As Deputy Minister of Justice, she mainly dealt with issues related to international cooperation, in particular, the coordination of the international legal field, which concerns, in particular, the fulfillment of Armenia's obligations in the field of human rights. And in general, Kristine Grigoryan's biography indicates that that she was and remains a defender of human rights," Vardanyan said. On January 20, Kristine Grigoryan was relieved of her post by First Deputy Minister of Justice of Armenia.
Arman Tatoyan was appointed to the post of Human Rights Defender of Armenia in 2016. The Armenian authorities have repeatedly accused him of political bias, especially in connection with his statements on the post-war situation in the border settlements, the need to establish a security zone and the withdrawal of Azerbaijani military personnel from Armenian villages and roads, because "without this it is impossible to restore the rights and natural life of the inhabitants of the border ". At the same time, as Tatoyan argued, the withdrawal should not be carried out at the expense of the Armenian territories. The Ombudsman stated that the delimitation and demarcation of borders cannot be legitimate if it does not protect the rights of citizens, does not comply with the principle of the priority of international law and does not ensure the normal life of people.