Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenia’s law enforcement authorities will not initiate criminal proceedings over the August 14 attack on the reporters of the RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) in Sevan, Armtimes.com reports, citing the press service of the Armenian police.
Recall, Azatutyun.am correspondent Narine Ghalechyan was threatened and chased by a young man while reporting on safety standards at Armenia’s liquefied gas stations. The furious young man, as reported by Azatutyun, turned on the reporter when she approached one such station in the town of Sevan and started filming it. He didn’t explain his rage during the incident.
“I switched off and hid the video camera to prevent him from damaging it but kept holding the microphone in a visible way, which was enough for him to understand that I’m a journalist, then ran away and got in the car. I told him not to approach me or I will call the police, which made him even angrier. He reached for the car’s door which I had already locked. When he realized that the door is locked he started kicking and punching it,” Ghalechyan had said afterwards.
According to Armtimes.com, besides demanding a criminal case, Azatutyun.am had also demanded an official apology from the young man’s employer – Artsap-Shin company, next to which the incident had taken place. The company has already apologized to the reporters, and to Narine Ghelechyan in particular, as well as compensated for all the damage caused to the car.
“At the same time, the company has stated that their employee, A. Varazyan, was unaware that his actions were directed against a journalists. The company management has therefore subjected the employee to strict penalty,” Azatutyun.am editor Artur Papyan told Armtimes.com. He added that Azatutyun did not intend to file additional complaints, in view of the young man’s difficult social situation.