STATEMENT
Regarding the violence used by law enforcement officers against employees of NewDay.am and Oragir.News websites
On April 27, 2024, on Ijevan-Kirants highway of Armenia’s Tavush region, a group of masked policemen stopped the vehicle carrying media professionals, removing them from the car. They knocked NewDay.am cameraman Janibek Khachatryan to the ground, handcuffed him, attemptig to detain him. Multiple alerts indicating that the individual was a media representative covering the ongoing protests alongside his colleagues went unanswered. The cameraman was released shortly after the incident.
On the same day, during the dispersal of citizens’ protest along the Yerevan-Tbilisi highway near Lori region’s Dsegh village, police officers hindered the professional activities of Oragir. News representatives covering the event. Reporter Ani Nerkararyan suffered injuries after being pushed down, and cameraman Zaven Ohanyan was forced to cease filming.
We, the undersigned journalistic organizations, express our resentment at the unjustified violence and unrestrained behavior displayed by law enforcement officers against media representatives covering the protests against the border delimitation process in the Armenian-Azerbaijani contact zone. Just days ago, on April 25, we underscored in our statement regarding a similar incident that during the use of force against protesters, cases of the police targeting, attacking and resorting to violence against media personnel carrying out their duties on site have become commonplace. We also highlighted that these actions, as a rule, remain unpunished.
We reiterate our earlier demands to immediately conduct an internal probe to identify and hold accountable the officers who have abused their powers, as well as eliminate the vicious practice of repression against journalists by security structures.
Additionally, we demand from the RA Government to arrange a discussion involving high-ranking officials from law enforcement agencies, journalistic organizations and media representatives to tackle the aforementioned issues, to make decisions preventing violations of journalists’ rights, and take effective measures to put an end to unlawful violence.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
YEREVAN PRESS CLUB
MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER
MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA
PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB
“JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO
“JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO
GORIS PRESS CLUB
