On 6 February, the US democracy watchdog Freedom House has condemned the Armenian authorities for continuing to prosecute citizens accused of insulting state officials, reported the Armenian Radio Free Europe.

Freedom House issued a statement, saying that the practice testifies to a “clear degradation of democratic norms” in Armenia. Of special notice were the amendments to the Armenian Criminal Code, passed by the country’s government-controlled parliament last summer, that made “grave insults” directed at individuals because of their “public activities” crimes punishable by heavy fines and a prison sentence of up to three months.

It was stressed that the Armenian police have launched more than 260 criminal investigations stemming from the amendments that took effect in September amid strong criticism from local and international human rights groups. Many of those cases reportedly target people accused of offending the country’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The US watchdog already called for a repeal of the Criminal Code articles shortly after the authorities began enforcing them in September. Armenian officials dismissed those calls. “We have to understand that freedom of speech has limits. We have to understand that there are some expressions that absolutely do not fit into the legitimate boundaries of free speech. Insults definitely don’t,” stated the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on legal affairs Vladimir Vartanyan in response to the criticism.