«Such a thing has never happened and is indeed 'unprecedented'» - Levon Zurabyan

The Deputy Chairman of the Armenian National Congress, Levon Zurabyan, has made a statement stating: «A deputy cannot be prosecuted or held responsible for the opinions expressed or votes cast during the term of their mandate and thereafter.» This is stated in Article 96 of the Constitution. This constitutional norm establishes a special freedom for members of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia. It is one of the main guarantees of free speech and functional parliamentarism in any democratic country.

The Armenian Revolutionary Federation, Gegham Manukyan, and, in general, non-mythical figures (including just a year ago, his devoted leader Nikol Pashinyan) are directly responsible for the consequences of the recent war and Armenia's humiliating defeat. However, the scene where a deputy is violently removed from the podium for calling pro-government members traitors is disgusting and shows that the current authorities disregard democratic freedoms and the Constitution that enshrines them.

During Robert Kocharian's time, a law was invented concerning 'pulling the ears' of deputies, attempting to interrupt opposition speeches through the hands of other deputies, while under Serzh Sargsyan, all kinds of 'tricks' were employed to reject requests for speeches on procedural matters, or they would cunningly switch off the microphone before the time was up. But it has never happened before—violently preventing someone from expressing a non-obscene opinion simply because the vocabulary used does not please the authorities; this is truly 'unprecedented.'

They are ready to curse democracy with their steel 'democratic hammer.' They have no other way; otherwise, it is impossible to stop the growing dissatisfaction resulting from the national catastrophe brought upon us by their disgraceful governance. One thing is clear: fear has become the main psychological state of this government. This does not bode well for either them or Armenia.