Deputy of the My Step faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Nikolay Baghdasaryan today told reporters that he’s against the proposed amendment by which offending or defaming a public servant through the mass media or other way in public due to failure by the public servant to perform is or her official duties shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of maximum two years.

The Ministry of Justice of Armenia has placed into circulation the bill on making an amendment to the Criminal Code of Armenia by which it is proposed to punish a person offending or defaming a public servant for failure by the latter to perform his or her official duties with a penalty in the amount of 100-fold to 500-fold of the minimum salary.

The bill, which has been developed by the Prosecutor General’s Office, also envisages the following: If the same act is committed through the mass media or other way in public due to failure of the public servant to perform his or her official duties, the act shall be punished with a penalty in the amount of 500-fold to 3,000-fold of the minimum salary or imprisonment for a term of maximum two years.