Since Soviet times, Armenia has concentrated all of its resources on preliminary investigation and hasn’t placed a big burden for trials, and this is why there is a great risk of violations of human rights. This is what Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan stated while presenting the annual Report on the Activities of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia and the Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms held as part of the session of the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs of the National Assembly of Armenia today.

“The burden needs to be placed during stages of trial. The preliminary investigation body has the right to publish data, but the Office of the Human Rights Defender also receives complaints from people who say that the preliminary investigation body only publishes as much data as it needs and in a way that may violate presumption of innocence,” Tatoyan said.