Union of Journalists of Armenia condemns campaign against  media that  started in 2018 and continues to escalate with new, alarming  developments every day

ArmInfo.  The Union of Journalists of Armenia (UJA) has issued a statement condemning the police violence against 24News.am journalist Meri Manukyan, who was  covering the protest in Kasakh today, and the generally established  trend of violence by government officials against journalists during  their professional activities.  The statement recalls that the police  officer in question had previously been caught in 2023 for his  disrespectful behavior towards a citizen, but faced no consequences.  The UJA noted that there have been numerous instances of law  enforcement  using force against both citizens and the media with no  repercussions. The journalistic organization highlighted that  journalists and media outlets have also been targeted by  current  Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and his wife Anna Hakobyan.

 "Particularly, Anna Hakobyan attacked the founder of Hayeli.am,  journalist Angela Tovmasyan, and journalist Boris Murazi, the founder  of Politik.am, using obscene, vulgar, and street language. Other  journalists were also on Anna Hakobyan's radar. Not far behind them  is Arayik Harutyunyan, the head of the Armenian Prime Minister's  staff,  who plays a key role in Nikol Pashinyan's team. He made two  offensive and hate-filled posts directed at former Radio Liberty  journalist, now News.am journalist Aza Babayan, only because she  "dared" to talk to Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan," the UJA noted,  adding that Harutyunyan's offensive posts had a specific goal - to  incite hatred towards Aza Babayan. The statement also mentions the  revocation of parliamentary accreditation for MediaHub.am journalist  Vahe Makaryan by direct order of National Assembly Speaker Alen  Simonyan.

"The practice of obstructing a journalist's work by revoking their  accreditation is highly condemnable, especially when challenged in  court, and what happened to Vahe Makaryan is a blatant manifestation  of the authorities' intolerance and vindictiveness.  This is already  a classic attempt to silence the media by suing them and placing a  huge financial burden on their shoulders, as seen in Nikol  Pashinyan's public promise to sue the daily newspaper "Hraparak".   Moreover, this is not the first time that Pashinyan or his inner  circle target "Hraparak" newspaper, its journalists and  editor-in-chief Armine Ohanyan," the statement of the UJA further  reads.

It is further noted that the Union of Journalists of Armenia strongly  condemns the campaign against the media and journalists, which began  in 2018 and continues to escalate with new, alarming developments  every day.  "Armenia has long been far from democratic values, and  the authorities use any means as a baton to restrict freedom of  speech, hinder media activities, including through legislative  restrictions. Obviously, the  media and journalists themselves pose  the greatest threat to the authorities due to the nature of their  work.  Nevertheless,  journalists will continue to carry out their  professional responsibilities, despite any, even seemingly  insurmountable obstacles.  Realizing the non-standard situation and  extraordinary conditions in which we are operating and understanding  the scale of  existential dangers our country is facing, we call on  the media and journalists to maintain self-control in all  circumstances, avoid succumbing to provocations and adhere to  journalistic ethics," the UJA concluded.