“Pay and insult”
Republican Hovhannes Sahakyan and human rights advocate Vardan Harutyunyan today debated over the recent legislative package which suggests changes to the Code of Criminal Procedure, Civil Code and Criminal Code.
The bill foresees decriminalization of the terms "slander" and "outrage" as well as heavy fines on a person and mass medium slandering or insulting the dignity and good name of others.
"In the past, you were sentenced to prison for publishing a slanderous article while now you are only fined. You can insult someone and pay the fine," said the Republican MP.
"The authorities will do their best to achieve their goal. With the existence of partial courts any law can have an adverse effect," said his opponent Vardan Harutyunyan who thinks the fixed fine is beyond imagination.
"They simply aim to bankrupt newspaper. When you elaborate a bill you should take into consideration the country's social state," added Mr. Harutyunyan.
The National Assembly adopted the bill in the first reading during the previous four-day sitting.
