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Armenia’s Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan has issued a statement regarding the Thursday rally held by acting PM Nikol Pashinyan at the Republic Square, where some of the participants were holding hammers in their hands. The Ombudsman notes that the rally was broadcast live by Pashinyan's Facebook account. Moreover, photos of rally participants with hammers in their hands were widely spread on social media. 

In the words of the Ombudsman, it is obvious that the move came after explicit demonstration of a hammer by the acting PM himself during the campaign rallies, his figurative language to draw comparisons along with a rhetoric of hate speech, insults and threats. 

"This is extremely dangerous and deplorable. The acting Prime Minister of Armenia should stop demonstrating a hammer during rallies and use fiery rhetoric, but to  appeal to all his supporters and citizens to rule out the mentioned dangerous phenomenon," said the Ombudsman. 

"We call on all to avoid using any tools that could be associated with a bodily injury or violence or draw any similar comparisons. The candidates for the post of the prime minister are the ones who should first and foremost refrain from similar actions and later make justifications they have done it to symbolize their programs related to construction," added the Ombudsman.