Grigoryan Believes Tatoyan is Biased for Blaming Protesters During Sari Tagh Events

The Secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, believes that the Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan is biased as he blamed the protesters during the Sari Tagh events in 2016.

“I do not see any tension between me and that individual. I only stated that he is engaged in political activity, and I continue to maintain that. By the way, by political activity, I mean his bias, because there is a history. He was appointed in 2016, if I am not mistaken, and during the Sari Tagh events, he blamed the protesters for the use of force by the authorities, if you recall, he blamed citizens for walking in dark streets,” Grigoryan said in an interview with Factor.

According to him, the function of the Human Rights Defender is to protect the citizen from the state, especially from an authoritarian regime. “Currently, the target is the government. I see no problem in human rights protection, the only problem I see is that he engages in political statements that have nothing to do with his powers,” the Secretary of the Security Council noted.

When asked whether this confrontation undermines the work done by the Human Rights Defender, including the facts presented in international organizations regarding Azerbaijan's human rights violations, Grigoryan responded that it is when he engages in politics that he causes damage to such reports. “No one is questioning his work in this regard. The only issue is his engagement in political activities, sometimes blaming citizens. Depending on the time, he blamed them in 2016, and after 2018 he has different positions, the problem is only there,” he said.

It’s worth mentioning that earlier the Human Rights Defender of Armenia, Arman Tatoyan, said that Armen Grigoryan has exceeded his powers. “Who has given him the right to discuss the issue of changing the Human Rights Defender? This is a blatant encroachment on the independent institution of the Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, especially by a senior official of the executive branch. Since there is an body in Armenia that initiates proceedings for violations of rules of conduct by public servants, addressing the issue of accountability, and that is the Corruption Prevention Commission, I have officially contacted the Corruption Prevention Commission. This person should be held accountable for his statements to ensure the unimpeded, unconstrained, and independent work of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia in the future,” Tatoyan stated.

It should also be noted that the Secretary of the Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, criticized the Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan in an interview with rusarm.info, stating that he “has never seen an unbiased statement from him.” “The Human Rights Defender makes political statements that are later contradicted by the Ministry of Defense or other ministries. He has clearly presented himself in the opposition field and is earning dividends,” Grigoryan said.