Deputy of the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction of the National Assembly of Armenia Naira Zohrabyan posted the following on her Facebook page:

“A little while ago, I had a meeting with President of the Venice Commission Gianni Buquicchio. The main topics of our discussion were obviously the upcoming snap parliamentary elections, the latest amendments to the Electoral Code, the disproportionate fines for defamation and offense, as well as the public’s moods ahead of the elections.

The President of the Venice Commission expressed his concern about fake news and considered this a serious challenge for democracy and free speech in Armenia.

Gianni Buquicchio and I also considered setting forth solutions for the law on defamation and offense that won’t hurt freedom of expression in Armenia and to make sure such bills don’t become a tool for the authorities in the fight against political opponents and the media.

I also shared my comments on the authorities’ bill on the unacceptable amendments to the Civil Code with the PACE Monitoring Committee and the Council of Europe Co-Rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia.”