Journalists become the target (video)
Liana Sayadyan, Deputy Editor of “Hetq” online newspaper doesn’t remember how many phone calls she has received from the law enforcement officers during three days following the referendum on constitutional amendments. “The police are preparing materials and the first thing they do is applying to the editorial office. In most of the materials the sources are mentioned, for example, there is information that the observer had reported, they had better address the observer,” she says. During these days the law enforcement officers are sending notes to almost all the media outlets. Levon Barseghyan, Chairman of Asparez club of Gyumri, is surprised “after giving report of a possible crime the journalist must have nothing to do anymore as it is the turn of law enforcement officers to act.” “They receive means from the budget, they have the powers to launch investigation. It seems they want us to do their job,” notes Mr. Barseghyan. A number of violations of the journalists’ rights were registered on the day of the referendum on the constitutional amendments. The violations include physical violence, facts of impeding the lawful professional activities. Levon Barseghyan connects the attitude toward the journalists with the desire of the authorities to pass the new draft Constitution at any price. “At all the polling stations the offenders, who had been instructed to implement those electoral falsifications, put all their efforts in order to disrupt or neutralize the civic control.” The rights of Diana Ghazaryan, journalist of online newspaper “Hetq”, were also violated. Arthur Khurshudyan, Republican member of the committee of 5/28 polling station in Arabkir, seized her notebook. “He approached in order to read what I had written and I asked him to stand aside. He continued looking at my notebook in order to read, and I pulled the notebook to me and he asked why I didn’t let him read. I told that I was doing my job, he closed the notebook and went out,” says the journalist. Only after the arrival of the police officers the chairman of the committee returned the notebook. As of December 8 based on the reports of the media outlets the Prosecutor’s Office has instituted 6 criminal cases. Journalists comment on this fact smilingly. They have difficulty in remembering cases when the law enforcement officers reveal the cases of violence against the journalists. “There is no political will to reveal the cases of violence against journalists. If there is such an order not to hinder the activities of journalists, I think there won’t be such actions,” says Liana Sayadyan. There is information on the website of the Prosecutor General’s Office that the Prosecutor General’s Office has instructed to check the circumstances mentioned in the article… It means that journalist must wait for new calls, notes and visits from the law enforcement officers.
