Aravot, Armenia
Oct 12 2007
Armenian paper reporter attacked over controversial article
"Attack on Aravot reporter" and published in the Armenian newspaper
Aravot on 12 October:
A group of women and men broke into the newsroom of Aravot yesterday
and attacked reporter Ruzan Minasyan. They were trying to hold the
reporter accountable for an article published in our paper the day
before. The assailants were the relatives of those killed on 24 June
2002 and "explained" their violence by saying that Aravot, in their
opinion, had no right to publish the letter of the person sentenced
for the killings; the convict claimed he was not guilty.
Since the assailants would not calm down, and the obscene curses
(also voiced by women) and the brawl continued, the paper’s employees
called the police, who arrived shortly and stopped the attackers. A
criminal case under Article 164 [of the Armenian Criminal Code] –
"obstruction of a reporter’s professional activities by a group of
individuals accompanied by physical threats" – has been launched. The
assailants were not satisfied with just threats; they injured Ruzan,
who is planning to visit a forensic doctor.