ArmInfo. A number of journalistic organizations issued a statement expressing outrage at the unjustified aggression and cruelty of Armenian law enforcement officers against media representatives covering protests against the border delimitation process in the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact zone, as well as unjustified violence.
The statement recalls that on April 27, on the Ijevan-Kirants highway in Tavush region, masked police stopped a car carrying media representatives, took their car out, threw the operator of the NewDay.am news site Janibek Khachatryan to the ground, handcuffed him and tried to detain him.
"Numerous warnings that the person in question was a media representative, together with his colleagues, was covering the protests taking place in those days, remained unanswered. The cameraman was released a little later.
On the same day, when dispersing a protest rally of citizens in the village of Dsegh in the Lori region of the Yerevan-Tbilisi road, police interfered with the professional activities of employees of the Oragir.News website covering these actions. The police officers used brutal force against Journalist Ani Nerkararyan - she was injured, and cameraman Zaven Ohanyan was forced to stop filming," the statement states. It is also recalled that in a statement issued on April 25, issued in connection with a similar incident, they had already noted that it had become a common modus operandi for the police to harass, assault and use violence against media representatives performing their professional duties during protests. "We also emphasized that all this, as a rule, goes unpunished.
We confirm the previously voiced demands to conduct an immediate internal investigation and bring to justice police officers who abused their powers, as well as to eliminate the vicious practice of repression against journalists by law enforcement agencies.
"In addition, we request the Government of Armenia to organize a discussion with the participation of senior law enforcement officials, journalistic organizations and media representatives to resolve the abovementioned problems, make decisions to prevent violations of the rights of journalists, and take effective measures to stop illegal violence," the statement reads.
The statement was signed by: Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, Yerevan Press Club, Media Initiatives Center, Freedom of Information Center, Multilateral information institute - Armenia, Public Journalism Club, "Journalists for the future" NGO, "Journalists for human rights" NGO.