Human Rights Defender of Armenia Arman Tatoyan has issued the following press release:

“During one of the massive demonstrations today, there was a speech about solving issues with weapons, and there were calls for a military coup.

Although the speech was immediately followed by the speech of one of the leaders of the opposition who stressed that violence is inadmissible and that the issues only need to be solved constitutionally, the first speech is strictly condemnable and absolutely inadmissible.

The organizers of the massive demonstrations of the opposition must take into consideration the fact that the opposition is also an institution of statehood and that the state of human rights protection and solidarity in the country also depend on the opposition; thus, the opposition needs to take action according to that.

Rule of law and guaranteeing of human rights must lie at the core of all initiatives.

Alongside all this, law-enforcement authorities and other competent state bodies must ensure rule of law.”