STATEMENT
Regarding the assault on correspondent of “Photolure” agency Mkhitar Khachatrian
To guarantee the safety of a journalist on professional duty, during his/her work – this slogan has repeatedly been recorded in the statements of journalistic associations whenever violence against journalists occurred.
The lack of punishment inevitably generates new crimes and today we reaffirm our indignation at the incident that occurred on August 24, 2004 in Tsaghkadzor. The correspondent of “Photolure” agency, a member of the Journalists Union of Armenia Mkhitar Khachatrian, on a professional mission related to environmental problems, forest preservation in Tsaghkadzor, was violently attacked by a group of strangers, one of them with his hair shaved off. With curses and threats the assaulters snatched off the memory chip of the journalist’s photo camera and injured him.
We reinstate that the violence against journalists and the obstruction of their work is a consequence of the lack of punishment to those who were to blame for the previous incidents.
Strongly condemning this other act of violence against a journalist on duty, we demand the law enforcement bodies to intervene by taking specific steps to disclose and punish those guilty.
Journalists Union of Armenia
Yerevan Press Club
