PRO-OPPOSITION JOURNALIST ATTACKED IN ARMENIA – POLICE

NASDAQ
April 30 2009

YEREVAN, Armenia (AFP)–A journalist with a pro-opposition Armenian
news Web site was attacked and badly beaten by unidentified assailants
in the capital Yerevan Thursday, police said.

Argishti Kivirian, an editor at the Armenia Today site, "was
hospitalized with multiple injuries and could not immediately give
evidence because of a grave health condition," the police said in
a statement.

Kivirian’s sister, Armenika, told AFP assailants had used baseball
bats and had fired three gunshots, none of which hit her brother,
during the attack in the early hours of Thursday.

Armenia Today said in a statement the attack was "linked with Argishti
Kivirian’s professional activities.

"Intimidation and threats cannot affect our determination to fulfill
our professional and civic duty," the statement said.

Numerous Armenian journalists have been attacked in recent years,
including the head of the country’s association of investigative
reporters, who was severely beaten last November.

The country’s ombudsman, Armen Harutunian, has raised concerns over
the attacks, saying they are evidence of a culture of "intolerance"
towards the media in the former Soviet republic.