While covering the parliamentary elections, RFE\/RL\u2019s Armenian service (Azatutyun) reporter Sisak Gabrielyan and Araratnews.am journalist Shoghik Galstyan were attacked in Yerevan\u2019s Kond district.<\/p>\n
The journalists noticed that residents of Kond\u2019s 15 Rustaveli St., prior to going to the polling station, gathered outside MP candidate, HHK (Republican Party of Armenia) representative Hakob Beglaryan\u2019s election campaign headquarters, and they thought that it\u2019s possible electoral bribes were being distributed inside.<\/p>\n
Galstyan decided to enter the headquarters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen the people gathered there saw the video-recording devices, they immediately displayed aggressive behavior, began to shout, don\u2019t film, then they attacked, pulled my hair, took the video-recording device, didn\u2019t let me enter the building. Meanwhile, my colleague had managed to get inside and caught the act of money being distributed,\u201d Galstyan tells Media.am.<\/p>\n
The journalist called the police and quickly left the scene. Galstyan says, in her opinion, the residents gathered outside the headquarters recognized each other and wanted to interfere with the journalist\u2019s work. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn\u2019t let us go inside because bribes were clearly being distributed. We had already left the scene; therefore, the police officers came to the newsroom, and we described what happened. I don\u2019t want to be pessimistic regarding police actions, since it\u2019s clear from the video that there was violence,\u201d says the journalist.<\/p>\n
While Galstyan was working outside, Gabrielyan succeeded in entering the building. On Azatutyun\u2019s airwaves she explained what happened, noting that inside the building she saw two pieces of paper where the first and last name, patronymic, passport number, and residential address of 30 or 40 people were written.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey attacked, damaged my eye, hurled profanities, which we don\u2019t broadcast on air. When we were leaving, people were still going to that area. Inside, they said we’re distributing wages. The girl in the video said they\u2019re going to distribute wages to more people than those on the list,\u201d says Gabrielyan. <\/p>\n
But the work of journalists in Kond didn\u2019t end there.<\/p>\n
At polling station 9\/28 (Kond\u2019s school), there was an attempt to hinder ArmTimes.com journalist Tirayr Muradyan\u2019s professional activities. At the polling station, Muradyan saw one of the women who attacked the journalists outside Hakob Beglaryan\u2019s election campaign headquarters, and he approached her for comments on the incident. The women became angry, turned around, and moved off-camera. Before doing so, she made insulting remarks, attacked the video camera and tried to pull it way.<\/p>\n
Muradyan asked the police officers on duty to find out the woman\u2019s identity, but they advised him to submit a report about the incident to the police. <\/p>\n