On September 7 during the visit of RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsian to Artik city (Shirak region) an incident occurred between one of the bodyguards of the Prime Minister and Kristina Mkrtchian, correspondent of “GALA” TV company. As “GALA” TV company informed YPC, when Tigran Sargsian passed near the journalists, the bodyguard pushed away Kristina Mkrtchian, snatched the microphone out of her hands and threw it on the ground. The statement of “GALA”, released on September 7, considered the incident as an impediment to the work of the journalist and stressed “the initially negative” attitude of the Prime Minister’s personnel towards the shooting crew of the TV company. The statement also emphasized that after the incident “the employee of the Prime Minister’s press service presented oral apologies” to the “GALA” journalist, “noting that the occurrence was on accident”.
On the same day Aram Ananian, Assistant to RA Prime Minister, refuted the allegations of “GALA” on the impediment to the work of its shooting crew, stressing that the tripod of the microphone was broken as a result of the bodyguard’s negligent actions. The Assistant to RA Prime Minister also announced that the loss of “GALA” TV company would be compensated.
