INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST ATTACKED IN ARMENIA: POLICE

Agence France Presse — English
November 18, 2008 Tuesday 11:38 AM GMT

A prominent Armenian investigative journalist was attacked and badly
beaten in the capital Yerevan, local police said in a statement
Tuesday.

Edik Bagdasarian, head of the Armenian Association of Investigative
Journalists, suffered serious head injuries when he was attacked
Monday night by three unidentified assailants, the statement said.

The police made no comment on a possible motive for the attack.

Bagdasarian told journalists he had no idea who might be behind
the assault.

"I have no enemies, I cannot say who might be behind this," he said
in televised remarks from his hospital bed.

Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, who visited Bagdasarian in hospital,
raised concerns over the attack.

"The prime minister expressed his deep concern over the incident
and confidence that the assailants will be identified and punished,"
Sarkisian’s office said in a statement.

Bagdasarian, 49, is a respected independent journalist known for his
in-depth investigative reporting on topics ranging from politics to
crime and corruption.