Tweet
Reporters without borders, France
Aug 26 2004
Photographer assaulted in the north of the country
Photographer Mkhitar Khachatrian, of the PhotoLur agency was
assaulted after taking photos of politicians' private holiday villas
in Tsaghkadzor in the north of the country.
Reporters Without Borders called on Armenia's prosecutor-general
Aghvan Hovsepyan to do everything possible to track down and punish
those responsible.
Khachatrian and Anna Israelian, of the independent daily Aravot, were
working on a report on the destruction of the forest caused by
house-building in the region.
They were photographing private homes, chiefly belonging to
parliamentary deputies, on 24 August when a guard ordered them to
stop. The journalists refused to comply.
The same evening the guard, accompanied by a group of thugs, found
the pair in a local café. One of them struck Khachatrian and
threatened to kill him. He then ordered him to hand over his camera
containing shots of the villas, and the photographer handed him the
disk.
Assaults on journalists have escalated since the start of the year.
On 5 April several journalists were manhandled on the sidelines of a
demonstration while security forces looked on. In June, two of the
assailants were fined about 150 euros in connection with the
assaults. Security forces beat up two more journalists at a
demonstration on 13 April.
In its letter to the prosecutor general, the international press
freedom organisation stressed that, "Coming after the incidents in
April it would be dangerous to all journalists if a climate of
impunity were allowed to take hold".
Aug 26 2004
Photographer assaulted in the north of the country
Photographer Mkhitar Khachatrian, of the PhotoLur agency was
assaulted after taking photos of politicians' private holiday villas
in Tsaghkadzor in the north of the country.
Reporters Without Borders called on Armenia's prosecutor-general
Aghvan Hovsepyan to do everything possible to track down and punish
those responsible.
Khachatrian and Anna Israelian, of the independent daily Aravot, were
working on a report on the destruction of the forest caused by
house-building in the region.
They were photographing private homes, chiefly belonging to
parliamentary deputies, on 24 August when a guard ordered them to
stop. The journalists refused to comply.
The same evening the guard, accompanied by a group of thugs, found
the pair in a local café. One of them struck Khachatrian and
threatened to kill him. He then ordered him to hand over his camera
containing shots of the villas, and the photographer handed him the
disk.
Assaults on journalists have escalated since the start of the year.
On 5 April several journalists were manhandled on the sidelines of a
demonstration while security forces looked on. In June, two of the
assailants were fined about 150 euros in connection with the
assaults. Security forces beat up two more journalists at a
demonstration on 13 April.
In its letter to the prosecutor general, the international press
freedom organisation stressed that, "Coming after the incidents in
April it would be dangerous to all journalists if a climate of
impunity were allowed to take hold".