On June 10 at the court of primary jurisdiction of Center and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan the hearing on the case of inflicting material damage on the media during the opposition rally on April 5 was held. As it has been reported, the media representatives were attacked by a group of “strong young men”, when they were attempting to record them throwing eggs at rally participants (see details in YPC Weekly Newsletter, April 2-8, 2004). As informed before, the Prosecutor’s Office of Yerevan in charge of the case revealed two of the attackers – Ashot Avetisian and Hrair Harutiunian who pleaded guilty (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, May 28 – June 3, 2004).
Before the proceedings the defendants compensated the damage caused to Public Television of Armenia, “Kentron” (presently “Aravot”) TV company as well as “Haikakan Zhamanak” and “Aravot” dailies.
In the course of the court session on June 10 none of the injured presented additional property claims. The court sentenced Ashot Avetisian and Hrair Harutiunian to minimal punishment, stipulated by Part 1 of Article 185 of RA Criminal Code (“Intended destruction or spoilage of property”), namely a fine of 100,000 drams (about $ 180).
Meanwhile, the connivance of the police during attacks on journalists on April 5, violence cases on the same April 5 and on the early morning of April 13 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, April 9-15, 2004), obstructing the journalistic activities by the law enforcement bodies themselves, material damage to media – all this remains unpunished to this day.
