In one week, Vanadzor-based journalist Gayane Sargsyan has found herself in hot water with local government representatives not once but twice.

Gayane, who works at the Vanadzoryan Khjankar (“Vanadzor Mosaic”) newspaper and is a correspondent for Gyumri’s Asparez paper, was at Vanadzor City Hall on April 3 to cover the hiring process for vacant community service positions at the municipality. 

The journalist tried to read the names of the hiring committee members on the paper that was on Secretary of the Staff Gagik Simonyan’s desk, when Simonyan shouted from the other end of the room, “You, sit down! Either way, you won’t get it.”

Affected by the city official’s harsh reaction, Gayane left the room and the building.

“Standing beside the desk, I glanced at the paper for 2–3 seconds. I noticed the committee members’ names, and I thought, let me see who they are,” she explains.

Regional administration (marzpetaran) employee and hiring committee member Armen Janazyan, who witnessed the incident, apologized to the journalist on Simonyan’s behalf. 

“I am extremely offended, and I find that no self-respecting man, whether he is an official or a villager, would allow himself to do such a thing. In my 8 years of working as a journalist, this is the first time I’ve witnessed such behavior,” says Gayane. 

Simonyan says he became angry when the journalist interfered with the committee’s work. “Only the public servant has the right to become acquainted with the public servant’s personal affairs. Providing any personal information to anyone else is prohibited, as long as there has not yet been agreement by the public servant,” says Janazyan.

Defending his correspondent, Asparez editor Levon Barseghyan sent a complaint in writing to Vanadzor City Hall, demanding the city launch administrative proceedings in connection with his complaint, investigate the facts, determine with what right the official addressed the journalist so informally, and reprimand the city staffer in the relevant legal and ethical manner. 

“Mr. Darbinyan, I won’t refer to the fact that Gagik Simonyan’s actions completely fit within the requirements of RA Criminal Code Article 164 (hindering a journalist’s legal professional activities). Depending on your answer, we will decide whether to launch criminal proceedings with the police or not,” wrote Barseghyan in his letter.

A few days before the incident, Vanadzor mayor Samvel Darbinyan spoke about Gayane Sargsyan on the air, on the regional TV station Fortuna.

Responding to Vanadzor residents’ questions, the mayor said, “I view very negatively those journalists who publish a piece in the [Vanadzoryan] Khjankar that the mayor’s orders aren’t being carried out. Ay, that’s quite a blind, and I’d say, unmoved person who publishes such articles.” (watch from 05:56; in Armenian only).

The mayor was referring to Gayane’s article titled “The mayor’s orders aren’t being carried out”.

Later, Darbinyan said he didn’t even read the article — he surmised only from the headline that the journalist made an incorrect assessment. 

In the article, the journalist published what she saw and heard during a city hall meeting, citing verbatim comments, such as: “At the last meeting, I recommended counting how many saplings in the city have been broken or removed, and how many saplings have yet to be planted. What has been done in this regard? What’s underway? Weren’t 7 days enough to count how many saplings we have to plant?”

“Since when does a journalist make assessments on whether the mayor’s recommendations are carried out or not? If a journalist is present during municipal staff meetings, that doesn’t mean she can also make assessments,” says Darbinyan.  

In Vanadzoryan Khjankar director Haykaz Simikyan’s opinion, what’s important are the readers, and there’s no need to pay much attention to officials’ offensive comments.

“All over the world journalists are insulted, beaten, threatened, and killed — these are immediately tied to the journalist’s work. At some point a journalist has to be prepared. So too does the editor.”

Adrine Torosyan, Vanadzor