Epress.am News from Armenia
Former RA Minister of Nature Protection Aram Harutyunyan who called an activist "urchin" (lakot) violated the rule of ethics, according to a recent decision [AM] by the Commission on Ethics of High-Ranking Officials.
The Commission concluded that former environment minister, current Kotayk regional governor (marzpet) Aram Harutyunyan violated the ethics rule prescribed by the RA Law on Public Service Article 28 Section 3 Paragraph 5, which is for high-ranking officials to show respect for all those with whom they interact while carrying out their official duties.
The conclusion was sent to the president and prime minister of Armenia.
Recall, the proceedings were launched [AM] based on an application submitted by the deputy director of theTransparency International Anti-Corruption Center.
The application was related to an incident that occurred during the international conference "Responsible Mining in Armenia: Challenges and Opportunities" on March 25–26 between activists and the nature protection minister. Calling mining in Armenia "irresponsible," activists disrupted the conference, expressing their dissatisfaction with mining in Armenia and ineffective supervision by the Ministry of Nature Protection. In response, the minister threatened one of the activists, saying, "Know your limits; I'll tear off your ears and place them in your hands, urchin."