ARMENIAN EDITOR ‘ATTACKED BY THUGS’
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Sept 6 2006

The editor-in-chief of one of Armenia’s best-selling newspapers claimed
to have been attacked and beaten up on Wednesday by well-built men
resembling the notorious bodyguards of government-connected wealthy
businessmen.

"After I left home in the morning two young men with shaven heads
attacked me from behind, toppled me to the ground and began kicking me,
mainly trying to target my head," Hovannes Galajian of the "Iravunk"
bi-weekly told RFE/RL by phone. "When other people came out of the
building they immediately fled."

"They didn’t say anything. They were silent. They didn’t even swear
at me," he said, adding that he immediately reported the incident to
the police and will undergo a medical examination by forensic experts
on Thursday.

Galajian said he believes that the alleged attack was in retaliation
for critical articles published by his paper, but would not specify
"Iravunk" reports that might have angered influential individuals.

"We have trodden on many toes and the pool of suspects," he said.

"Iravunk," which is linked to a small opposition party, is known
for its hard-hitting coverage of the Armenian government and its
loyalists. Galajian’s description of his alleged attackers matches the
appearance of about two dozen thugs that tried to disrupt an April 2004
opposition rally in Yerevan and attacked photojournalists and cameramen
who filmed their actions. Media reports at the time said the well-built
men work as bodyguards of "oligarchs" supporting the ruling regime.

Galajian was among the editors of Armenia’s leading newspapers who
issued a joint statement last July expressing serious concern about
what they described as a growing harassment of journalists critical
of the government. The statement cited in particular a June attack
on a freelance journalist whose news reporting allegedly infuriated
a local government chief in Yerevan.