ARMENIA: DIM OUTLOOK FOR MEDIA FREEDOM, REPORTERS SAY
Marianna Grigoryan
EurasiaNet
Dec 9 2008
NY
Despite heavy government emphasis on the importance of freedom of
speech, the violence against Armenian journalists is continuing. Civil
society leaders and reporters contend that officials’ sluggish
response masks either rank incompetence or an intention to keep the
lid on government criticism. Government officials reject the charges
as groundless.
The most recent encroachment upon media rights came in mid-November
when Edik Baghdasarian, one of the country’s best-known investigative
journalists, was ambushed and badly beaten by two unknown men in
Yerevan. The attack was the seventh reported case of violence against
a journalist in Armenia this year.
"I am convinced that the attack was connected with my professional
activity," said Baghdasarian, who has conducted attention-grabbing
investigations into government corruption, the mining industry, and
human trafficking for the online newsmagazine Hetq.am, which he heads,
and other publications. "I am myself looking into this case now and
I hope the case will be solved."
"It is not so difficult to disclose these cases of violence and
find those responsible," continued Baghdasarian, who sustained
cranial-brain injuries in the November 17 attack. "But, of course,
willpower is needed for that."
The government has assured Armenian media that all steps are being
taken to solve the Baghdasarian case. "Every act of violence against a
journalist is condemnable," Samvel Farmanian, spokesman for President
Serzh Sargsyan, commented to EurasiaNet.
Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, who visited Baghdasarian
in the hospital, has taken a similar tact, telling reporters
that "a dialogue with media is necessary to specify the rules of
the game." Sarkisian did not specify other participants in such a
dialogue. "The environment should be such that there is a reciprocally
respectful attitude," public television reported him as saying.
Some Armenian reporters believe that Baghdasarian’s prominence
motivates much of the government’s display of interest in his
case. In September, the 46-year-old journalist was the runner-up
for the prestigious Global Shining Light Award, a prize given to the
world’s best investigative journalists.
The government’s assurances have so far done little to convince other
Armenian reporters.
One political reporter for the opposition Haykakan Zhamanak daily
contended that the authorities do nothing to investigate reported
attacks against journalists.
"The prime minister’s visit to Edik Baghdasarian in the hospital was a
mere publicity stunt," charged Lusine Barseghian, who is known for her
critical stories about the government and government-linked clans. "If
the authorities are interested in exposing anyone, they would have
done so. Meanwhile, in many cases they are the ones who order it."
Rafik Petrosian, a senior member of the governing Republican Party’s
parliamentary faction, countered that no one "praises" law-enforcement
agencies for their "perfect work".
"There are unsolved murders. We condemn violence against
journalists. However, the authorities are taking steps towards
resolving these cases. It looks like Edik Baghdasarian’s case is close
to completion," Petrosian, who heads parliament’s standing committee
for state and legal affairs, told EurasiaNet.
He did not elaborate about the status of the Baghdasarian
investigation. Police announced on November 26 that one man had
turned himself in and admitted that he took part in the attack on
Baghdasarian, yet allegedly declined to give further testimony.
But investigations into attacks on journalists do not necessarily come
flush with results, noted Haykakan Zhamanak reporter Barseghian. On
February 19, the day of the presidential vote, Barseghian herself was
beaten at one Yerevan polling station while highlighting suspected
fraud in favor of then Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan, the government’s
favored candidate. A second attack came on August 11, when two unknown
men attacked Barseghian from behind outside her apartment building.
"I definitely link what happened to me with my professional activities
and there are concrete people and forces behind those who ordered the
violence. . . " Barseghian said. "Criminal cases were started in both
cases. However, no results have come so far. If our country were a
law-abiding state, the cases would have been solved a long time ago."
Republican Party parliamentarian Petrosian scoffed at the
allegation. "Is there any evidence that the authorities or any
government official were behind the attack? I can’t accept a journalist
making serious accusations without any evidence. Had there been any
verdict finding any government-linked person at fault, then they can
confidently make such statements," affirmed Petrosian.
One human rights activist argues that the lack of visible punishment
for such incidents only encourages additional attacks.
"If there has been practically no punishment, then two conclusions can
be made here: either the professionalism of law-enforcement bodies
in Armenia is below zero or, even if it wasn’t they who did it,
the state must prevent such cases," said Armenia Helsinki Committee
Chairman Avetik Ishkhanian said. " . . . The authorities bear the
responsibility, because they have failed to take preventive measures."
In a November 19 letter, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe’s representative on press freedom matters Miklos Haraszti
echoed that stance. "The aim of such crimes is to intimidate media
workers in the country and obstruct investigative reporting," Haraszti
wrote. "The lack of progress in resolving these cases could provoke
further cases of violence against journalists."
Without such measures, commented Armenian Public Ombudsman Armen
Harutiunian in a statement, "it would be correct that senior police
discuss the issue of the competence of the organs conducting the
investigations."
The Paris-based watchdog Reporters Without Borders has marked the
decline in Armenia’s media environment. In 2008, the organization
ranked Armenia 102nd out of 173 countries in its 2008 Worldwide Press
Freedom Index – a sharp dip from the country’s 77th position ranking
a year before.
"The most significant development in the former Soviet periphery is
the deterioration in the Caucasus," the report states, referring to
"major problems" with free speech in Armenia and Georgia. [For details,
see the Eurasia Insight archive.]
Editor’s Note: Marianna Grigoryan is a reporter for the ArmeniaNow.com
weekly in Yerevan.