Armenian journalists condemn attack on newspaper editor

Armenian journalists condemn attack on newspaper editor

Mediamax news agency
7 Sep 06

Yerevan, 7 September: A number of journalistic organizations of
Armenia issued a statement today, demanding that the law-enforcement
agencies find and punish the culprits and organizers of the attack
on the editor of Iravunk newspaper, Ovanes Galadzhyan.

"Our colleague, the editor of Iravunk newspaper, Ovanes Galadzhyan,
was attacked and beaten up on the morning of 6 September. Threats
and violence against journalists and the mass media have become more
frequent in the recent period, however, the culprits have not been
found and punished yet. We have repeatedly stated that unpunished
attempts on freedom of speech and the press generate new crimes:
people who are not capable of conducting a civilized dialogue take the
path of intimidating journalists and the media," the statement says.

"It seems that attacks on the media during a political crisis are a
sad tradition in our country. Such an attitude to the media, which is
gaining momentum in the run-up to the parliamentary election, endangers
the transparency of the electoral process. We condemn another act of
violence against the journalist and demand that the law-enforcement
agencies find and punish those who executed and organized this evil
act," the statement said. The statement was signed by the Yerevan
Press Club, the Union of Journalists of Armenia, Internews Armenia,
the committee to protect freedom of speech, the Helsinki Committee
of Armenia and the Centre for Law and Freedom.