Head of the RA Police: Visit of Police officers to the ``News.am``  edition was aimed at obtaining some materials related to the election  campaign

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