Media organizations are concerned with the state of criminal proceedings in the case of the use of force and obstruction of the lawful professional activities of journalists covering the #ElectricYerevan sit-in on June 23.

The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression, Yerevan Press Club, Media Initiatives Center [responsible for this site], Asparez Journalists’ Club, Freedom of Information Center of Armenia, Goris Press Club, Public Journalism Club, Journalists for the Future, and Journalists for Human Rights issued a joint statement stating they consider unacceptable the superficial approach and tardiness shown by the Special Investigative Service (SIS).

“The extensive criminal case, which includes also the incidents associated with the affected demonstrators, is overseen by only one investigator. This testifies to law enforcers’ inadequate treatment of the case. Of the 24 journalists and camera operators who were subjected to use of force or a variety of other obstacles by the police during the June events, six have not yet been examined in the two months since the criminal proceedings were launched,” reads the statement [AM].

Media organizations are asking the SIS to immediately review the approaches and form a representative investigative team to investigate the criminal case objectively, while asking the Prosecutor General’s Office to demonstrate proper control over the criminal case, to identify and hold accountable the persons who resorted to force and obstructed the work of journalists and camera operators.

Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression (CPFE) President Ashot Meliqyan expressed hope that a SIS investigative team that will identify the perpetrators will be established eventually.

“It seems it’s already become a trend — those who violate the rights of journalists have not yet been held accountable. In terms of their scale and the volume of obstacles and physical violence against journalists, these incidents were truly unprecedented and surpassed the notorious incidents of March 1, 2008,” he said. 

According to Meliqyan, the journalism community should follow this process very carefully and actively report problems. 

Yerevan Press Club President Boris Navasardyan said their statement is another warning to Armenia’s law enforcement bodies and ruling authorities that the journalism community and citizens concerned about human rights are unlikely to be satisfied only with promises.

“If before, criminal cases didn’t deserve to be launched for violence and obstructions against journalists, well now they promise, launch proceedings, but then they last forever and in the end no one is guilty or held accountable. With this statement, we want to remind [law enforcement and the authorities] that we are monitoring the process and demanding a more serious and responsible approach toward what happened,” he said.  

According to Media Initiatives Center Executive Director Nouneh Sargsyan, journalists should be demanding when it comes to their rights; in cases such as these, non-governmental organizations are always by news outlets’ side. 

“We often say that the media in our country is quite free, but in public crisis situations we see that those freedoms are quite shaky and always need to be defended and protected. One of the criteria of freedom is journalists’ stable sense of security,” she said. 

On the morning of June 23, while dispersing participants of a sit-in on Yerevan’s Marshal Baghramyan Avenue protesting a hike in electricity tariffs, police officers attacked journalists, smashed their equipment, and seized their devices and memory cards. As a result of police operations, 13 journalists and camera operators were subjected to brutal force and the lawful professional activities of about 15 representatives of various local news media were hindered.

The SIS launched criminal proceedings on the incidents of obstructing journalists’ professional activities and willfully destroying or damaging their property. But no significant progress has been made.

Anna Barseghyan