The impression is that Armen Harutyunyan is the defender of only opposition's rights: Sharmazanov

Armenia's ombudsman Armen Harutyunyan is not a human rights defender but rather the defender of opposition's rights, MP from the Republican Party of Armenia Eduard Sharmazanov told Tert.am, referring to Ombudsman's recent report that mainly focused on the right of freedom of speech in Armenia.

"I have previously had a chance to get familiar with Ombudsman's reports, and the impression has always been that that man is only the defender of opposition's rights rather than human rights defender. But after the recent report it turned out that it becomes a regular habit [for him] to prepare one-sided reports that defend the rights of opposition, which I think will not contribute to the democratization of our country," said Sharmazanov, adding that Armen Harutyunyan had better prepare comprehensive reports instead of the one-sided ones.

"If we speak about what is bad, then they should also point to what is good," noted Sharmazanov.

Asked whether or not there are problems in Armenia related to restrictions on freedom of speech, he said: "We do agree that there are such problems. The administration of [Armenia's President] Serzh Sargsyan differs [from previous ones] in the sense that it does not hide problems, but while speaking about problems, progress should also be spoken about."