Criminal Case Rejected Against Parliament Security Head after Hitting Journalist

The head of the National Assembly’s Security Service Karen Hayrapetyan violated a journalist’s professional activities on September 9, 2014 in front of the National Assembly. According to the Chairman of Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression Ashot Melikyan, the rejection to open a criminal case regarding the incident is a blatant act of injustice.

Recall, that the NA Security Service head Karen Hayrapetyan attacked journalist Marine Khachatryan, working for “A1+” news agency, and threw her video recording device to the floor. “The Prosecutor commissioned a Special Investigation to study the incident, while the Special Investigation Service (SIS) rejected instituting a criminal case because of the lack of criminal intent, whereas, the criminal intent was posted throughout news stations,” said Melikyan.

Melikyan noted, that the SIS investigator’s reasoning for not opening a criminal case was due to the lack of severity of a single hit equaling physical violence. Gyumri-based Journalists’ Club “Asparez” Levon Barseghyan also considered the decision to be biased.

“Now imagine that I hit a KGB worker, or hit that girl, there, without doubt, would be a criminal case against me. In 2004, Edgar Arakelyan threw an empty bottle at a cop on Baghramyan St. and got two years in jail,” said Barseghyan.

To note, A1+ has appealed the decision of the SIS.