During the conference organized by Yerevan’s Press Club the head of the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression Ashot Melikyan, referring to the insurance of the professional activities of journalists covering the elections, said that it is unwarranted to talk about any progress. He noted that the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression recorded two cases of physical abuse and 8 different oppressions in the parliamentary elections on April 2.
“This time there was a difference: in fact, these offenses were mostly being exercised by citizens”. “It is difficult to refer to these people, perhaps a part of the electorate, as citizens”. Ashot Melikyan added, that law enforcement bodies express different views when civilians violate journalists’ rights, and when the police do. “The cases of the people who hindered journalists’ work during the constitutional referendum held on December 6, 2015, quickly reached their logical conclusion, and the court delivered a judgment. But we do not see the same when the representatives of law enforcement bodies hinder and oppress”.
Ami CHICHAKYAN
