OSCE Office in Yerevan condemns cases of violent attacks against media workers and thus against free speech in Armenia

The OSCE Office in Yerevan condemns the cases of violent attacks against media workers and thus against free speech and expects that the law enforcement bodies will investigate the cases with new dynamism to find and punish perpetrators with speed and thoroughness that the cases deserve",- Ambassador Sergey Kapinos, Head of the OSCE Office in Yerevan said when replying to ArmInfo's question.

"Prompt disclosure of those standing behind the cases and bringing them to justice will prevent other such cases in future, create a safe working environment for journalists and help public fully and freely exercise their right to receive pluralistic information",- he added.

He said that the OSCE Office in Yerevan, in accordance with its mandate, closely follows the state of media freedom in the country. "The recent repeated cases of violent assaults against media professionals have marred the current media freedom situation in Armenia. The last two weeks saw two attacks on journalists, including the severe beating of Argishti Kiviryan, Coordinator of Armenia Today Information Agency, and the beating of Nver Mnatsakanyan, a well known commentator of Shant TV. The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, has asked the Armenian authorities to swiftly investigate the acts of violence committed against media professionals, stressing that "The lack of results into cases of violence against journalists creates an atmosphere of impunity for the perpetrators and can provoke other cases of violence against media workers". The Representative also expressed concern over previous violence against journalists in Armenia referring to the undisclosed cases of violence against Lusine Barseghyan from the opposition newspaper Haykakan Zhamanak; Hrach Melkumyan, the acting Chief of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Yerevan bureau; and Edik Baghdasaryan, the Chairman of the Investigative Journalists' Association.

The Ambassador added that the OSCE Office in Yerevan sent letters to the law enforcement agencies of Armenia with enquiries concerning the results of investigation of the above and other cases of assaults against independent reporters.

/ArmInfo/