Union of Journalists of Armenia condemns campaign against  media that  started in 2018 and continues to escalate with new, alarming  developments every day

ArmInfo.  The Union of Journalists of Armenia (UJA) has issued a statement condemning the police violence against 24News.am journalist Meri Manukyan, who was covering the protest in Kasakh today, and the generally established trend of violence by government officials against journalists during their professional activities.  The statement recalls that the police officer in question had previously been caught in 2023 for his disrespectful behavior towards a citizen, but faced no consequences. The UJA noted that there have been numerous instances of law enforcement  using force against both citizens and the media with no repercussions. The journalistic organization highlighted that journalists and media outlets have also been targeted by  current Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan and his wife Anna Hakobyan.


 "Particularly, Anna Hakobyan attacked the founder of Hayeli.am, journalist Angela Tovmasyan, and journalist Boris Murazi, the founder of Politik.am, using obscene, vulgar, and street language. Other journalists were also on Anna Hakobyan's radar. Not far behind them is Arayik Harutyunyan, the head of the Armenian Prime Minister's staff,  who plays a key role in Nikol Pashinyan's team. He made two offensive and hate-filled posts directed at former Radio Liberty journalist, now News.am journalist Aza Babayan, only because she "dared" to talk to Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan," the UJA noted, adding that Harutyunyan's offensive posts had a specific goal - to incite hatred towards Aza Babayan. The statement also mentions the revocation of parliamentary accreditation for MediaHub.am journalist Vahe Makaryan by direct order of National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan.


"The practice of obstructing a journalist's work by revoking their accreditation is highly condemnable, especially when challenged in court, and what happened to Vahe Makaryan is a blatant manifestation of the authorities' intolerance and vindictiveness.  This is already a classic attempt to silence the media by suing them and placing a huge financial burden on their shoulders, as seen in Nikol Pashinyan's public promise to sue the daily newspaper "Hraparak".  Moreover, this is not the first time that Pashinyan or his inner circle target "Hraparak" newspaper, its journalists and editor-in-chief Armine Ohanyan," the statement of the UJA further reads.

It is further noted that the Union of Journalists of Armenia strongly condemns the campaign against the media and journalists, which began in 2018 and continues to escalate with new, alarming developments every day.  "Armenia has long been far from democratic values, and the authorities use any means as a baton to restrict freedom of speech, hinder media activities, including through legislative restrictions. Obviously, the  media and journalists themselves pose the greatest threat to the authorities due to the nature of their work.  Nevertheless,  journalists will continue to carry out their professional responsibilities, despite any, even seemingly insurmountable obstacles.  Realizing the non-standard situation and extraordinary conditions in which we are operating and understanding the scale of  existential dangers our country is facing, we call on the media and journalists to maintain self-control in all circumstances, avoid succumbing to provocations and adhere to journalistic ethics," the UJA concluded.