Manvel Grigoryan's Son Makes Offensive Post About Pashinyan; Police Prepare Materials

On October 4, a copy of a post made by Ara Grigoryan, the son of General Manvel Grigoryan, was received by the Vagharshapat police department. In the post on the social network Facebook, he made severe offensive remarks about Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. This was reported by 'Aravot'. Measures are being taken to locate Ara Grigoryan. Materials are being prepared.

It should be noted that Freedom House has previously issued a statement regarding the criminal case initiated against the user for insulting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan under a comment to a photo of him on Facebook. The statement reads: 'Freedom House is concerned about the recent criminal case initiated against the user of the Facebook social network for insulting the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan. This comes just two months after amendments were made in the National Assembly decriminalizing 'serious insult' against public officials and symbolizes a clear regression of democratic norms in Armenia, including freedom of speech. We urge the Armenian authorities to immediately cease the enforcement of this unconstitutional legislation criminalizing insult.'