The Armenian National Assembly today elected Anahit Manasyan as the country’s new Human Rights Defender.

Sixty-nine pro-government Civil Contract MPs voted in favor of Manasyan, who had been serving as Deputy Prosecutor General. Opposition MPs boycotted the vote.

Manasyan replaces Kristinne Grigoryan who resigned in January.

The opposition had nominated Edgar Ghazaryan, the former head of the staff of the Constitutional Court, but Civil Contract MPs rejected his candidacy.

Ghazaryan, in a Facebook post, said he will appeal Manasyan's election, labelling the decision "unconstitutional and illegal".

The National Assembly began its work today with a minute of silence, paying tribute to the memory of the Armenian servicemen who died in yesterday’s border skirmish with Azerbaijani troops in Syunik.