Vice-President of the National Assembly Refuses to Meet Edgar Ghazaryan for the Fifth Time
Edgar Ghazaryan, an activist of the “Ardenq” (We Are Awake) movement, states that Vice-President of the National Assembly (NA) Ruben Rubinyan has refused to meet with him for the fifth time within the framework of citizens’ receptions. Ghazaryan assesses this as discriminatory treatment motivated by political views.
According to Edgar Ghazaryan, he was informed by the NA that Vice-President Ruben Rubinyan does not consider it appropriate to receive him. “He is authorized to organize citizens’ receptions, but he refuses to meet only with me. This is already the fifth instance, which I regard as a repetition of the same crime—discriminatory treatment toward a citizen,” he told reporters.
He noted that other citizens’ receptions proceed according to the established procedure. After the previous refusals, Ghazaryan appealed to the Office of the Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman). The latter demanded clarification from the NA as to why Vice-Presidents Ruben Rubinyan and Hakob Arshakyan refused to receive him.
The activist reported that he appealed to the Prosecutor’s Office in all cases of refusal, and in several cases, the court obliged the Investigative Committee to initiate proceedings.
Ghazaryan mentioned that he wanted to discuss with Ruben Rubinyan not only the issues related to his application but also the impeachment process and the activities of the Cooperation Commission between the Parliaments of Armenia and Artsakh. Additionally, he had questions regarding Rubinyan’s activities related to the April 2016 war and the Armenian-Turkish negotiations.
After failing to meet with Ruben Rubinyan, Ghazaryan submitted a second complaint to the Office of the Human Rights Defender. He also attempted to contact the office of NA President Alen Simonyan to inform them about the refusals. According to Ghazaryan, he was ultimately offered a reception not with the NA President but with his assistant.