I Condemn Any Kind of Violence Against Any Person, Woman, Man, Elderly, or Child, It Doesn’t Matter: MP

MP Sofia Hovsepyan from the 'My Step' faction of the National Assembly made a post on her Facebook page addressing the events of today, particularly the violence against female MPs by the police. She stated that as a parliamentarian, she condemns every action taken by the police that is outside the law, regardless of her awareness of the circumstances surrounding those events, asserting that any violation of the law is condemnable.

Her post reads: “Here I am, to say something and then leave again… I came across several posts regarding the alleged failure to condemn violence against female MPs, although it is not directly aimed at me, it also concerns me, so I will speak up: I condemn any type of violence against any person, woman, man, elderly, or child, it doesn’t matter. I condemned it, I condemn it, and I will continue to condemn it…”

“Now, when it is said that you have not condemned the violence against female MPs, a question arises: what about male MPs? The next question is, what does it matter if one is an MP or not? Today a sentence was circulating: ‘I do not remember any case during any administration where female MPs were thrown to the ground and dragged.’ I will not darken my soul by saying ‘this has not happened today,’ as I have not managed to watch the protest and have only seen a few pictures, from which I can assume that something occurred. Yes, the police should be very cautious, very professional, and very correct in their actions.”

“I will also not darken my soul by not asking: ‘Dear ones, is the climax here the female MP or women in general?’ If it is women, then we have been subjected to the most unscrupulous treatment during all administrations: beatings, violence, harassment, various explosives, detentions, and so on. Since I am a veteran of protests, I have seen everything and have felt the consequences of all kinds of attitudes towards us, but in the interest of justice, I should say that I have not noticed any demands from female MPs asking why the police are pulling those girls, hitting them, beating them, dragging them on the ground, mercilessly striking them. Electric Yerevan is a witness; I will not go far.”

“I did not expect or demand it—I thought everyone should do this by their own will, with their own thinking and value system. Today, as an MP, I simply condemn every action by the police that is outside the law, regardless of my awareness of what has occurred. If there is even one violation, it is condemnable; if there is even one act of violence against anyone, it is condemnable, regardless of status. If there are disproportionate actions, they are condemnable, and so on.”

“Now you might say, but isn’t the MP inviolable? And isn’t the female MP both inviolable and a woman? Yet I will not agree because I repeat: violence has no 'gender', especially not 'status.' The law should not recognize status or gender; it should be equal for all. Lawlessness begins when the law is not applied equally.”

“Therefore, I ask, urge, demand from all law enforcement bodies to bring the law to equal ground for all of us and apply it equally and with all detail. I strive to live in an Armenia governed by law, where it does not ask about gender, position, or wealth, and where everyone respects and adheres to it. Stay healthy; this is but a page in history. The important thing is that the country emerges from this disastrous situation, people recover, and return to their homes; doctors return to their normal lives, and the remaining issues will be resolved in their turn and on time. I believe you all agree that before the law we must all be equal.”