Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan had a meeting with Philippe Boillat, Director General of Human Rights and Rule of Law, Council of Europe.

The parties agreed to deepen the joint cooperation and implement new programs in the field of protection of the rights of people in detention and servicemen and others. They attached importance to the work with the civil society and journalists.

Arman Tatoyan and Philippe Boillat discussed the issue of extradition of Russian-Israeli blogger Alexander Lapshin.

The Armenian Ombudsman noted that “decision on his extradition is of political nature, poses a direct threat to the freedom of speech and creates an impermissible precedent.” “It’s a harsh violation of the European human rights protection system,” Tatoyan said, adding that “journalists’ visits to Artsakh cannot be subject to any persecution.”

According to the Ombudsman, the case comes to prove the need to make visits to Artsakh more frequent and intensify the involvement of the Artsakh Ombudsman and the civil society in international processes.

The Ombudsman handed over the report on the consequences of the Azeri attack on Armenia’s Chinari village to Philippe Boillat.