YEREVAN. – The bill envisages toughening the punishment for insult and slander in Armenia by increasing the fines for such acts. Deputy Minister of Justice Vahe Danielyan said this at Thursday’s sitting of the National Assembly, during the discussion of the bill on making amendments to the Civil Code.

The deputy minister noted in particular that the fine for insult will increase from 1 million to up to 5 million drams, and for slander—from 2 million to up to 10 million drams. "According to Article 10 (1) of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which was ratified by the Republic of Armenia and entered into force on April 26, 2002, everyone has the right to express their views freely," Danielyan said, adding that due to this convention, Armenia has refused to prosecute the perpetrators of these acts.

Also, he noted that the government had made a proposal not to increase the amount of these fines so much and to just make a slight increase in them.