Call for Political Restraint Towards the Human Rights Defender: Khajakyan

As a delegate of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, David Khajakyan, the leader of the "Light" faction in Yerevan City Council, calls on representatives of the political authority to demonstrate political restraint regarding the activities of the Human Rights Defender and to avoid actions that could be seen as pressure on the Defender's work and independent judgments. This was stated by Khajakyan on his Facebook page.

In particular, he wrote: "Today, during the discussions in the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on the annual report of the Human Rights Defender, the ruling party's deputy Vahagn Hakobyan delivered a speech, the rhetoric of which was characteristic of a political rival and aimed at influencing the activities of the Human Rights Defender. In the member countries of the Council of Europe, Human Rights Defenders are pillars of democracy, and being independent officials, they demand the appropriate attitude and political restraint towards this institution. As a delegate of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, I urge representatives of the political authority to exercise political restraint towards the activities of the Human Rights Defender and not to carry out actions that could be regarded as pressure on the Defender's work and independent judgments."