ArmInfo.Any procedural decision taken in relation to the media should be extremely justified and necessary. The former Prosecutor General of Armenia, the head of the parliamentary commission on state and legal issues Gevorg Kostanyan stated this on September 19 commenting on the searches that took place on September 17 in the editorial office of Yerevan today.
According to Kostanyan, any interference aimed at hindering the activities of the media should be avoided. The deputy noted that he does not have the necessary powers to discuss whether there were enough reasons for the search, since he is not familiar with them. I can only discuss the consequences of this search, I want to emphasize that any procedural decision taken with respect to the media should be extremely justified and necessary, and should not interfere with the activities of the press, "said the former Prosecutor General of Armenia.
To note, since the morning of September 17, the law enforcement bodies of Armenia conducted searches in the editorial office of Yerevan.today and the house of its chief editor Sevak Hakobyan. The searches, according to the media, were conducted on the grounds that the site allegedly published a record of the conversation between the heads of the national security service and the special investigation service two days earlier than the rest of the media did. The reason for this statement was the google search engine. The search engine indicates that the publication of the record on this portal was made two days before it appeared in other media. However, the editorial office of the portal claimed that it had published a conversation record at the same time as all other Armenian media, but there were simply problems with the search engine. A similar situation, added to the editorial staff, was formed with the portal of the newspaper "Hraparak". The same search engine indicates that the record on this portal appeared for 5 days before the day of publication in the remaining media. Meanwhile, the editorial board of Yerevan.today as early as September 12, having noticed the problem of the search engine, issued a refutation. "The network spread information that our website posted a record of the conversation between the heads of the National Security Service and the SIS two days ago, demonstrating some" evidence. "Internet experts have already denied this, noting that the system Google crashes. Incidentally, on September 11, at the same time, about 14 hours, as the rest of the colleagues and users of the network.On the site the material was posted about 15 hours when the information was already widely covered in the media, "the report says.
To recall, according to the UK, in the framework of the criminal case on the wiretapping of the telephone conversation between the heads of the National Security Service and the Special Investigative Service, searches are conducted at various addresses, including at the Yerevan.today portal. Samvel Farmanian made a statement condemning the search in the editorial office of the portal.