“During the second quarter of this year, the most extraordinary phenomenon is the sharp increase in cases of physical violence against journalists,” Ashot Melikyan, chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Speech, announced in the press hall of the Armenpress news agency. He presented the 2022 second quarterly report of the Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Speech on the “State of Freedom of Speech in Armenia and Violations of the Rights of Journalists and Mass Media.”
Ashot Melikyan noted that we once again record that when the socio-political situation in the country is tense, the attacks on mass media and journalists also increase. He reminded that in the last quarter, between April and June, the opposition organized acts of disobedience and noted, “I must say that 10 of the 11 cases of violence against journalists registered by us were during that period when various mass media were covering the protest actions. There were also cases when journalists were not subjected to violence because of clashes, but targeted actions were carried out against individual journalists and cameramen. Another case of violence was registered in the National Assembly.”
Ashot Melikyan stated that they have recorded all these facts and made a statement with their partner organizations. They received feedback from various instances, mainly from the police and other law enforcement agencies. However, he noted with regret that so far it has not been recorded that the culprits were brought to serious responsibility as a result of these violations. Ashot Melikyan answered the question: who is the main perpetrator of violence against journalists?
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“Mostly, violence is committed by law enforcement officers, but let’s not forget that there are cases when the participants of the demonstration are attacked. It was also recorded in the past, when journalists from other political camps covered protest actions organized by a specific political force, a rather serious situation was created.”
Ashot Melikyan considers these indicators to be worrying, especially in the sense that the number of physical violence during the 2nd quarter of 2022 is more than during the same period last year. At the same time, he reminds that the same period last year was much more tense: post-war developments, hot pre-election struggle.
Referring to the report prepared by their organization, Ashot Melikyan stated, “We recorded 11 other types of pressures on journalists without physical violence. Let us also record that there is a sharp decrease in violations of the right to receive and distribute information. The number of violations has decreased, and this is somewhat reassuring, although we know very well that getting information from state bodies remains very difficult, and many mass media outlets have expressed their displeasure.”
Ashot Melikyan was surprised by the progress of the press freedom situation in RA in the Reporters Without Borders report. He clarified, “It was quite a surprising progress for me when last year Armenia was in 63rd place and this year it was 51st. I also tried to ask that organization about the reason because we do not notice such a rapid improvement in the country. They explained that the study was done with a new methodology, on the other hand, the freedom of speech is going backwards all over the world. Maybe Armenia’s improvement is due to this.”
Tatev HARUTYUNYAN
