Tweet
PUBLIC DEMANDS THAT DEFENSE MINISTRY STOP PRESSURE ON THE MEDIA COVERING THE ARMY'S PROBLEMS
ARMINFO
Tuesday, March 20, 16:30
The Army In Reality NGO demands that Armenia's Defense Ministry stop
its pressure on the media covering the army's problems.
The NGO says that it has become a tradition to summon journalists
reporting incidents in the army to the Defense Ministry and to force
them to say who their sources were.
"This is a psychological pressure, aimed at distracting the public's
attention from the problems in the army. Despite the Defense Minister's
assurances that they control the situation in the army, the violence
against servicemen continues, while the pressure on the journalists
reporting such instances is growing. We demand that this policy be
stopped, the crimes be solved and those guilty be punished," the
NGO says.
Earlier Armenia's Military Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan said that
the Government was considering the possibility of legally obliging
journalists to name their sources. He said that several journalists
had already been summoned to the Defense Ministry and asked to give
explanations. "If a journalist publishes a report about some tragic
event in the army, we will ask the court to force him to disclose
his source," Kostanyan said.
Some 36 servicemen were killed in the Armenian army in 2011 against
60 in 2010, 30 of them as a result of military hazing.
ARMINFO
Tuesday, March 20, 16:30
The Army In Reality NGO demands that Armenia's Defense Ministry stop
its pressure on the media covering the army's problems.
The NGO says that it has become a tradition to summon journalists
reporting incidents in the army to the Defense Ministry and to force
them to say who their sources were.
"This is a psychological pressure, aimed at distracting the public's
attention from the problems in the army. Despite the Defense Minister's
assurances that they control the situation in the army, the violence
against servicemen continues, while the pressure on the journalists
reporting such instances is growing. We demand that this policy be
stopped, the crimes be solved and those guilty be punished," the
NGO says.
Earlier Armenia's Military Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan said that
the Government was considering the possibility of legally obliging
journalists to name their sources. He said that several journalists
had already been summoned to the Defense Ministry and asked to give
explanations. "If a journalist publishes a report about some tragic
event in the army, we will ask the court to force him to disclose
his source," Kostanyan said.
Some 36 servicemen were killed in the Armenian army in 2011 against
60 in 2010, 30 of them as a result of military hazing.