YEREVAN. – I have sent to the Venice Commission the Civil Code amendments which provide for tougher fines for defamation and insults in the media. Opposition Prosperous Armenia Party MP Naira Zohrabyan said this on Friday during the traditional briefings in the National Assembly (NA).

According to her, these amendments put pressure on the media, politicians, and citizens of Armenia. "The set compensations are illogical and have only one goal: to silence all the opponents," said Zohrabyan.

The MP added that after the respective vote in the parliament, she sent this document to the PACE Commissioner for Human Rights, as well as to various human rights activists and journalistic organizations.

The politician believes that the Armenian authorities' attempt to suppress freedom of speech should be responded to accordingly.

Earlier, the parliament approved the Civil Code amendments proposed by Alen Simonyan, the NA vice speaker and member of the My Step ruling bloc, according to which the amount of compensation for insult shall increase from 1 million drams to 3 million drams, and for defamation—from 2 million drams to 6 million drams—in Armenia.