Armenian Ombudsman’s office is unable to protect people from oligarchs or parliamentarians.

As Ombudsman Karen Andreasyan told a news conference in Yerevan, his office can protect people from governmental structures, yet an MP is not one. Still, as he noted, the journalists can address him, should they be dissatisfied with the work of the court.

When asked to comment if he feels his guilt in harming Armenian media upon adoption of a Law on Media, Andreasyan admitted to proposing the draft law yet not participating in its passage.

Andreasyan characterized multiple cases of criticism for the human rights defender’s office as natural, noting that the criticism might be aimed at weakling the Ombudsman institute in Armenia.