The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression records 11 cases of physical violence against journalists, 113 cases of pressures against media and their staff, and 62 violations of the right to receive and impart information in 2017.
“2017 was a tense and difficult period for Armenian media”, Ashot Melikyan, Chairman of the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, told journalists while presenting the report on the “Problems of the Development of Freedom of Speech and the Protection of the Rights of Journalists and the Media in Armenia”.
According to Mr. Melikyan, 2017 was tense because of elections of the Republic of Armenia National Assembly, Yerevan City Council and local self-government bodies.
The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression has registered 3 cases of physical violence against journalists and 6 cases of their work hindrance in the pre-election period of the National Assembly.
And on April 2, the National Assembly election day, the Committee recorded 2 cases of physical violence against journalists and 8 cases of work hindrance. On May 14, Yerevan City Council elections day, 2 cases of physical violence against journalists, and 5 cases of obstruction of their professional work were registered. Another 3 violations of the rights of journalists took place during the pre-election campaign period.
According to the report, out of 29 cases of violence and hindrances recorded during parliamentary and local elections and pre-election campaigns, criminal cases were filed only on 7. 5 of them were dropped on the basis of “absence of corpus delicti”, and only 2 cases were brought to court.
The Committee also noted that cases of violence and hindrance against media representatives and their professional work were also recorded in comparatively quiet periods of the year.
Arpine SIMONYAN
