Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenia’s Human Rights Ombudsman, former deputy minister of justice Arman Tatoyan today held a press conference in his office in connection with the publication of his extraordinary report on the July 2016 two-week standoff between opposition gunmen and police, and the ensuing mass demonstrations in Yerevan. Simultaneously a group of people carried out a protest action by barging into the conference hall and attaching images exposing police brutality during the July events on the Ombudsman’s table. One of the images in particular showed Levon Yeranosyan, deputy police chief of Armenia, throwing a grenade in the direction of the demonstrators. Another image depicted a young victim of police violence lying blood-soaked on the ground.
The organizers of the protest action also left a poster on Ombudsman’s office sign, reading “RPA [ruling Republican Party of Armenia] Rights Defender.”
Nevertheless, the Ombudsman did not interrupt the press conference and proceeded with the presentation of the report, while one of the staffers of the office removed the images from the table.
Shortly after the press conference, the Ombudsman, who took office in February 2016 after being proposed as a candidate by Armenia’s ruling Republican Party, issued a statement in connection with the incident; “Commenting on the actions of civil society during my press conference, I want to stress that I am deeply convinced that the work of the Human Rights Defender implies both criticism and such manifestations of dissent. I have repeatedly stated the need for enhancing the role of civil society in Armenia; I therefore consider it normal that I myself can be criticized by various circles. The human rights defender, despite everything, has acted and will continue to act exclusively within the the powers legally vested in him, without being affected by the viewpoints of one party or another. Veracity is more valuable than populism,” the statement said.