VIOLATION OF JOURNALISTS’ ACTIVITY IS A CRIME
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[08:40 pm] 18 May, 2006
Narine Avetisyan, executive director of “Lori” TV Company and member
of the Journalists’ Union of Armenia, has twice been intimidated
(in April, 2005, and in February, 2006) while committing her duty of
a journalist.
The Journalists’ Union of Armenian, the Yerevan Press Club and the
Committee Protecting Speech Freedom made a joint announcement in
which it is said;
“The indifference of local law enforcing bodies to the first two
events paved a way for a new violence. On May 16, 2006, unknown people
threw stones at Narine Avetisyan’s car. Several days have passed but
the investigation has given no result. We wonder whether the local
authorities don’t want or are unable to reveal the case. Otherwise,
what factor is their indifference determined by if we take into
consideration the fact that one and the same journalist has been
subjected to intimidation three times within a year whereas the people
responsible for the assault are not identified yet? We remind the
authorities of Lori and Vanadzor that the violation of a journalist’s
activity is considered a crime (Article 164 of RA Criminal Code)
and demand legal bodies to hold objective investigation of this and
previous facts, punish the real criminals preventing the further
violations.”