The National Security Service of RA, based on the requirements of the RA Government Decree No 1586-N of September 27, 2020 “On Declaring Martial Law in the Republic of Armenia”, has repeatedly called on the media, individuals or individual political analysts to refrain from disseminating disinformation or slanderous information that undermines the internal unity of society, through the media or other public means, however, some individuals, even in wartime conditions, continue to exhibit unacceptable behavior, putting their own interests above the security interests of the state.

In particular, Artem Khachatryan, founder of the Shame.am electronic information website, published an article on the same website, as well as on his personal Facebook page on October 5, 2020, entitled “The Guarantor of Armenia's Security Raises the Issue of Removing Nikol Pashinyan”, in which, ignoring the restrictions in place during martial law, he presented his assumptions, one-sided unproven opinions or obviously false information to the public as “the truth”.

Taking into account the above, the National Security Service of RA, within the powers granted to it by law, initiated proceedings on the case, within the framework of which it received an explanation from Artem Khachatryan regarding the information published in the article, during which the latter categorically refused to confirm the information contained in the article he published, noting that these were only his assumptions and his own analysis, in connection with which he could not present any facts or evidence. At the same time, Artem Khachatryan noted that when publishing the information given in the article, he used publications of foreign media, to which he also added his analyses and thoughts.

The National Security Service of RA also examined the publications posted in foreign media, to which Artem Khachatryan referred, as a result of which it became obvious that they were reproduced with distorted content, thus trying to mislead the public and undermine public trust in state institutions.

The National Security Service once again calls for high civic responsibility, refraining from unacceptable behavior of preferring narrow personal interests to public interests, disseminating disinformation or slanderous information, as well as misleading the public under the guise of freedom of speech, and warns that appropriate criminal-legal measures will be applied to those who distribute such information.

We urge not to use such sources of information, to show vigilance, not to pass such information on to each other, given the fact that their dissemination is apparently aimed at undermining our national unity, sowing panic in society and weakening the state, full toolkit provided by law will be used to neutralize them.