Speaker of Armenian parliament spits on man who called him traitor
Speaker of parliament row
“The speaker of the Armenian parliament spat in the face of a citizen who called him a traitor”, “The head of parliament offended, spits in man’s face” — such were the headlines.
The details of the incident were reported by opposition MPs. The victim himself talked about the incident, stating that he “characterized the speaker of the National Assembly as he should have.” Alen Simonyan also, of course, commented on the incident, saying this is not the first time that the same person has insulted him, and added that “impudence will not go unanswered.”
“The characterization he deserves”
The victim, Karen Mkrtchyan, posted a video and gave details. He admitted that he approached the Speaker of Parliament as he got out of a car and shouted the word “traitor”. He says it characterizes him.
“I was seized by two or three people, the speaker of the National Assembly came up to me and spat in my face, in the face of his compatriot. The honor of our motherland is so humiliated, such impudent people in power, and this is a direct consequence of the fears of the people,” he said.
Karen Mkrtchyan is a repatriate, citizen of Canada, and son of Mkrtich Mkrtchyan, member of the bureau of the Dashnaktsutyun party. The Armenian media wrote that allegedly after the “Velvet Revolution” of 2018, he asked for a position and is seeking revenge for having been refused. In an interview with MediaHUB Mkrtchyan denied these rumors. He said that he went to the government building to discuss investment projects and not to beg for work. But he alleges that he received an offer, which he rejected.
Mkrtchyan said that before spitting in his face, Simonyan said: “Your mother is a traitor.” And after the head of parliament left, he was taken to the police, identified and released after a while. He considers the speaker’s act unacceptable and legally punishable. While discussing their next steps with lawyers.
According to Mkrtchyan, he is not afraid if he meets again, he will again give out “the characterization they deserve.” He emphasizes that after what happened, he felt ashamed not for himself, but for the fact that “one of the highest officials of the Motherland allowed himself to treat another citizen like a street boy, a jerk, ashamed of a nation that tolerates such a quality of power.”
“Not the first time insults”
The speaker stated that this was not the first time Mkrtchyan had insulted him, the previous incident took place a month ago, he simply ignored the offender then.
“After the second incident, of course, I opposed his freedom of speech and insult with my opinion about him, my freedom,” the speaker of parliament wrote on his Facebook page.
He stressed that he never needed a position or security staff to say what he saw fit. He also denied rumors that he had 30-40 bodyguards:
“But “get it on your nose” that your impudence will not go unanswered: there will be a legal [legal] response to insulting the legitimate government of the Republic of Armenia.”
“Highly unacceptable”
This is how Taguhi Tovmasyan, chairwoman of the parliamentary committee on human rights, assessed the actions of the speaker. She believes that a “public act of humiliation” took place in the center of Yerevan.
“A state official must exercise extreme restraint, he is simply obliged to behave this way in all situations,” she wrote on Facebook.
Opposition MPs Hayk Mamijanyan and Aspram Krpeyan also commented that “citizen Karen Mkrtchyan shouted what everyone shouts when they see members of the ruling party.”
“The purpose of all this is to try to remove this stigma from themselves so that no one says it to their face,” he said.
MP Aspram Krpeyan recalled that when the Civil Contract party tried to come to power, all its members addressed the people saying “proud citizens”, and now “this is a bastion of sewer democracy”. In her opinion, the citizen expressed his opinion, and Simonyan tried to deprive him of the right to freedom of speech.
Opinions
Nina Karapetyants, human rights activist, head of the public organization Helsinki Association:
“Formerly bodyguards used violence [against citizens], now Alen Simonyan does it in the most humiliating, meanest way. What happened is completely out of line. The authorities position themselves as carriers of progressive ideas and democracy, but they act as if it’s a criminal subculture.”
“Even a freshman law student knows that spitting in the face of another person in a public place is a textbook example of bullying. But it was not Alen Simonyan who was brought to the police, but that young man. No comments”.
“Insolence and arrogance. These are the most literary words that characterize the behavior of Alain Simonyan. From a legal point of view, he should be held accountable for committing hooliganism. Let’s make it clear once again that there is no law and legitimacy for such people anymore.”
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Speaker of parliament row
