Author: Hovhannisian John

                                        Friday, 
Ex-Official Sees No Conflict Of Interest In Contesting ‘Grave Insults’ Law
        • Naira Nalbandian
Kristine Grigorian addresses the National Assembly shorly before being elected 
Armenia's new human rights defender, Yerevan, January 24, 2022.
Armenia’s newly appointed ombudswoman Kristine Grigorian sees no conflict of 
interest in pursuing a case in the Constitutional Court next week against a law 
that she herself presented in parliament as a deputy justice minister half a 
year ago.
The matter concerns the criminalization of serious insults adopted by parliament 
last summer.
Under amendments to the Armenian Criminal Code enacted last summer anyone 
insulting government officials and public figures risks paying hefty fines or 
going to jail for up to three months.
Opposition members and human rights activists criticized the authorities for 
adopting the measure, describing it as an infringement of free speech.
Former ombudsman Arman Tatoyan took the matter to the Constitutional Court, 
insisting that the law is unconstitutional.
Grigorian took over Tatoyan’s office in February and is now due to present the 
case at litigations opening on March 22.
Talking to reporters on Friday, Grigorian insisted that there is no conflict of 
interest in her involvement in the case on the other side now.
“According to our legislation, it is the government that presents its position. 
I presented the government’s point of view as a co-rapporteur,” she explained.
Grigorian added that she was not going to withdraw any application submitted to 
the High Court by her predecessor. “But we do have some ambiguous perceptions 
and problems with practice,” she added.
Tatoyan declined to comment on how unbiased his successor would be in pursuing a 
case against amendments that she herself defended in parliament only a few 
months ago. He only stressed the importance of a proper presentation of the case 
against the criminalization of serious insults that he said has become a means 
of shielding state officials and politicians from criticism.
The Constitutional Court did not suspend the effect of the law despite agreeing 
to consider Tatoyan’s claim.
Since the adoption of the amendments last summer about two dozen criminal cases 
have been referred to courts under the penal code article on “grave insults.” 
The bulk of the cases are related to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who has 
heard some strong-worded criticism mainly from the nationalist and conservative 
flank of the political spectrum since Armenia’s defeat in a war against 
Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh in 2020.
A number of international organizations, including the Parliamentary Assembly of 
the Council of Europe, have called on Armenia to decriminalize “grave insults.” 
The U.S. democracy watchdog Freedom House has repeatedly said that the passage 
and enforcement of the controversial law highlighted a “clear degradation of 
democratic norms” in Armenia.
Armenian authorities have defended the controversial law. Prosecutor-General 
Artur Davtian said earlier this month that the law is necessary for “reducing or 
neutralizing the scale and impact of hate speech.”
IMF Sharply Cuts Armenian Growth Outlook
        • Robert Zargarian
Citing regional and global spillovers from the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the 
International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revised downwards its forecast for 
Armenia’s economic growth from 4.5 percent to 1.5 percent this year.
In a statement issued on March 17, the leading international financial 
institution stressed that the wide-ranging Western sanctions imposed on Russia 
over the war in Ukraine will “inevitably have a notable impact on Armenia.”
“Higher food and fuel prices, lower remittances, increased global financial 
market volatility are expected to widen [Armenia’s] current account deficit, 
lead to a pickup in inflation, and reduce economic growth in the coming months. 
While there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude of the impact on 
Armenia, as the situation is still evolving, our preliminary assessment is that 
the [Armenian] economy could grow at around 1.5 percent in 2022—a much slower 
pace than previously expected,” the IMF said.
Earlier this week Armenia’s Central Bank also sharply cut its initial annual GDP 
growth forecast from 5.3 percent to 1.6 percent.
Central Bank governor Martin Galstian acknowledged on Tuesday that increased 
geopolitical risks in the region and a high degree of uncertainty have led to 
increased volatility in Armenia’s financial markets. He said that it was clear 
that sanctions imposed on Russia, which is Armenia’s main trading partner, would 
significantly slow down economic growth in Armenia and hit some sectors of its 
economy.
“We see that there are certain problems in the mining industry, in the 
processing industry… There is a certain decline in the construction sector as 
well. The only sector that we expect to have some positive development is 
agriculture,” he said at a press conference in Yerevan.
In order to curb inflation, which stood at 6.5 percent in February, the Central 
Bank of Armenia decided earlier this week to raise its benchmark interest rate 
by 1.25 percentage points – to 9.25 percent.
“In the current situation, the Central Bank’s governing board considers it 
expedient to increase the refinancing rate by a relatively large step,” the 
regulator said.
The Central Bank said it expects that as a result of such policy measures 
Armenia’s 12-month inflation will gradually decrease, reaching the target of 4 
percent.
Armenian Defense Chief Visits Syunik
Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian during a visit to the Syunik province, 
.
Armenian Defense Minister Suren Papikian has paid a working visit to the 
country’s southern Syunik province where deaths of two conscripts in separate 
incidents were reported earlier this week.
During the visit, which the Defense Ministry’s press office said took place on 
March 17, Papikian also traveled to the border area where local residents 
claimed Azerbaijan had moved its military positions into Armenian territory.
According to the official report, while visiting Syunik the defense minister met 
with local officers to discuss the recent incidents involving conscripts.
Papikian reportedly stressed that such incidents were a result of the violation 
of discipline in some units as well as an “insufficient moral and psychological 
level of individual servicemen.”
“After listening to the reports of the officers responsible for the incidents, 
the defense minister instructed that the commander of the military unit take the 
necessary measures to exclude such cases in the future,” the report said.
The Investigative Committee on Thursday launched criminal cases over the deaths 
of two conscripts in noncombat conditions in Kapan and Meghri. Both were found 
dead with gunshot wounds. At least in one of the cases investigators suspect a 
suicide, but do not exclude outside influence on the soldier’s decision to take 
his own life.
During the visit Papikian also reportedly traveled to the border area adjacent 
to the village of Nerkin Hand in the southeast of Syunik where the commander of 
the local military unit, Major-General Artak Budaghian presented to him the 
current situation.
The mayor of Nerkin Hand and other residents of the village told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service on March 15 that Azerbaijani servicemen had moved 800-900 
meters deep into the administrative territory of the community, set up five 
tents and began digging trenches there earlier this month.
Later that day, the Armenian Defense Ministry dismissed allegations about the 
advancement of the Azerbaijani military. In particular, it said that Azerbaijani 
servicemen had simply returned to the positions that they previously controlled, 
but recently had to leave temporarily due to harsh winter conditions.
“There can be no question of any [Azeri] advancement. In this and all other 
sections of the border the Armenian Armed Forces are fully fulfilling their 
tasks, monitoring any movement of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces and keeping the 
situation under control,” the ministry said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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