Video: Mr. Simonian, Publish That Invitation, Otherwise You Are a Liar, Says Zohrabyan

Naïra Zohrabyan, a member of the parliament from the Prosperous Armenia faction, stated today, April 8, that she expected her colleague Alen Simonian to honorably accept her offer to publish the invitation she supposedly sent to the transgender woman’s NGO, ‘In Favor of Rights.’ This was mentioned during her second Facebook live session on this issue within a day.

“However, Mr. Simonian persistently continues his manipulations. He published on his page the list of organizations that applied to the human rights commission and expressed a desire to attend the hearings, which was provided by me at his request for security reasons. And he presented it as an invitation from me. I consider this a cheap manipulation; it is a disrespectful attitude toward the public—thinking that the public will see my signature and say, ‘Well, yes, it is an invitation,’” she said.

Zohrabyan reiterated that her demand for Alen Simonian stands. “Mr. Simonian, publish that invitation, otherwise you are a liar. We want to understand who invited these numerous organizations to register with the human rights commission to participate in the parliamentary hearings,” she stated.

Zohrabyan reported that she had recently been informed by several NGOs that a person named Maria Karapetyan had urged them to participate in the parliamentary hearings. “She mentioned our committee's phone number and said, ‘Come, register for the hearings and participate,’” she explained, hoping that a third live session would not be necessary.

About an hour later, Naïra Zohrabyan also published the message sent to grassroots organizations engaged in human rights advocacy.

It should be noted that on April 8, addressing the demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament protesting against a transgender speaker, Alen Simonian showed a document signed by Naïra Zohrabyan and claimed, “Here is the list of invitees included in the package, and at the bottom is Naïra Zohrabyan's signature. There is no name from Maria Karapetyan or anyone from the My Step faction.” Earlier, during a speech in parliament, MP Maria Karapetyan from the My Step alliance had described Zohrabyan's statement that she was invited to the hearings by a transgender woman as a lie.

Later, in response to Naïra Zohrabyan's assertion that he lied, Alen Simonian made a Facebook post insisting that only Naïra Zohrabyan, as the chair of the parliament's human rights and public affairs committee, could invite them. “It is unfortunate that Ms. Zohrabyan, instead of engaging in human rights protection, is blaming others,” he stated.