ArmInfo.The visit of the Police representatives to the ''News.am'' edition was aimed at obtaining some materials related to the election campaign. On December 9, after fulfilling his civic duty at one of the polling stations, Valery Osipyan, Head of the RA Police, told reporters.
According to him, the reaction of the editorial staff to this visit remains unclear. "It's strange that the editors raised such a dust," the Chief of Police stated, adding that the department's press service had already made a statement. "Some documents were needed on the electoral process," the Chief of Police noted.
To note, the editors of News.am made a statement in connection with police officers' visit to the editorial office on 7 December. The statement in particular reads that during the electoral campaign the edition was publishing live broadcasts of representatives of various political forces, including the live broadcast of the RPA press secretary, Eduard Sharmazanov, in which the latter noted that those who support RPA candidates are invited to the police for an explanatory conversation. "On December 7, Armenian police officers visited the editors of News.am and requested to present evidence confirming the authenticity of these publications.
Also, police officers said that this was not their last visit, and they would visit the office in connection with this or that publication. After the editor-in-chief of the site published a message on her Facebook page that the police had visited the site's office, two policemen came to News.am who tried to assure that they didn't know who visited the office and most possibly this person was not a police officer, "the statement reads.
The statement also says that the police were obviously aware that these actions, as well as the statement that the police officers would return, put pressure on the press before the early parliamentary elections, in order to prevent comprehensive coverage of the election campaign. In a country that has declared itself a democratic and legitimate state, such an approach is unacceptable and threatens freedom of speech. The editors declared that they would continue to work as before, namely, to provide the society with impartial and comprehensive information and not to allow any violations of their rights and pressure on the press directly or indirectly. "
Later, the RA Police made a statement in which it confirmed the fact of the visit of its employee to the agency office to deliver a letter. The lawyers of the editorial board intervened in the case, got acquainted with the document and the management of the editorial office signed on receiving a letter