EMBATTLED JOURNALIST SAYS LOCKED OUT OF YEREVAN HOME
By Anna Saghabalian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
Aug. 10, 2006

An independent journalist facing the possibility of imprisonment said
Wednesday that his rented apartment in Yerevan has been sealed off
by police as part of a controversial criminal investigation stemming
from his dispute with an influential local government chief.

Gagik Shamshian, a freelance correspondent and photographer, claimed
to have been locked out of his home in the city’s southern Nubarashen
suburb since it was searched by police officers last Friday. "They
broke the door, went in and found that the furniture is not damaged,"
he told RFE/RL. "They took away my passport, tape recorder with
cassettes, computer diskettes and back issues of the newspapers
‘Chorrord Ishkhanutyun,’ ‘Aravot’ and ‘168 Zham.’"

"I am scared of returning to my apartment and engaging in my
professional activities," he said.

A top police general, Hovannes Hunanian, confirmed on Monday that that
the Nubarashen police opened a criminal case against the journalist
on the basis of "complaints" filed by local residents. He said they
accuse Shamshian of defrauding and insulting them.

Shamshian rejects the accusations, saying that the case was brought
in retaliation for his refusal to retract incriminating testimony
against the brother of Nubarashen Mayor Mher Hovannisian who was
charged with assaulting the journalist last month. Ruben Hovannisian
spent several days in police custody before being released a week ago.

Hovannisian’s lawyer, Robert Grigorian, denied his client’s involvement
in the July 12 attack on Shamshian by a large group of men allegedly
linked to the head of the local government. "My client did not organize
the assault," said Grigorian. "There is no evidence to support these
allegations."

A spokesman for the Armenian Police Service confirmed that Shamshian’s
apartment was search but could not elaborate on accusations that may
be formally leveled against him.

According to Shamshian, the most important of those accusations is
that he damaged the furniture owned by his landlord. He said he has
spent the past few nights in a friend’s apartment and does not know
when he will be able to return home.