Armenia’s National Assembly, by a vote of 82 to 19, today approved a draft law on Making Amendments to the Law on Operational Investigation Activity that would permit the police to secretly listen in on citizens’ telephone conversations.

The bill was authored by Im Kayl (My Step) MPs Armen Khachatryan and Sipan Pashinyan,

The government has opposed the bill, which must be approved at a second reading before being signed into law.