Vienna, 05/10/2017
The South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) expressed condemnation for the recent physical attack on a journalist in Armenia. </p>
On 28 September, Narine Avetisyan, editor-in-chief of Lori TV station, was attacked while performing her professional duties in the city of Vanadzor. While filming the asphalting of a road in heavy rain, the journalist was physically attacked by Tigran Nazaryan, head of the Shinplus construction company, and several of his employees. Avetisyan’s mobile was taken away by force and she was pushed to the ground.
“SEEMO condemns this attack on the safety and wellbeing of Narine Avetisyan, a journalist who has already been attacked several times while reporting on other corruption cases” Oliver Vujovic, SEEMO Secretary General said today. “This is a clear indicator that not only is press freedom endangered by citizens in Armenia, the government also sees the censorship of media workers as a normal occurrence. The fact that no investigation was started against the perpetrators proves this point once more. We urge authorities in the country to react and penalize those involved in the attack on this journalist and protect Avetisyan from potential future attacks” Vujovic added.
SEEMO is a network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in South, East and Central Europe.