Police Officers Reprimanded But Young Men Who Attacked Journalists Go Unpunished

Armenian Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan reprimanded police officer S. Baghdasaryan who was on duty during and G. Ghasaboghlyan for permitting the incident that occurred during Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan's doctoral defense at the  Armenian State University of Economics on Dec. 26, police spokesperson Armen Malkhasyan informed Epress.am today. Recall, a group of unidentified young men prohibited journalists from attending Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan's public defense of his PhD dissertation, obstructed their professional activities, and uttered sexual expletives at them.

Malkhasyan said an internal police investigation was conducted, during which videos of the incident were studied, and the decision was made to reprimand the aforementioned officers. Asked by Epress.am whether criminal proceedings will be launched against those who obstructed the work of journalists, Malkhasyan said "the investigation is completed; reprimands have been made."

Note, according to Article 164 of the RA Criminal Code, hindering a journalist's legal professional activities is punishable by "correctional labor up to 2 years or imprisonment up to 3 years, with the deprivation of the right to occupy certain positions or engage in certain activities for up to 3 years, or without that."

The press wrote about the youth who obstructed journalists' work immediately after the incident. Among them were president of the student union of the Armenian State University of Economics Sevak Khachatryan, and student union members Grisha Amirkhanyan, Sergo Kharatyan, and Sargis Muradyan. 

Photos of the youth posing with elite members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), including President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan, were easily found posted on their Facebook pages.