INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED

UNCLAS YEREVAN 001878 SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CACEN, DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL AM SUBJECT: INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED OVER PHOTO REF: YEREVAN 1148 ¶1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. -------------- JOURNALIST ALLEGEDLY ATTACKED -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On August 24, two investigative journalists alleged that they had been threatened and one of them roughed up by unidentified men after they had photographed the luxury home of the Deputy Chief of Armenia's National Police. The journalists, Anna Israelian and Mkhitar Khachatrian told the press they photographed Deputy Chief Armen Yeritsian's house as part of a report on environmental damage caused by house construction. While touring an expensive residential area, the journalists took a picture of Yeritsian's house, despite a warning from a guard who stood in front. ¶3. (SBU) According to the journalists, later that day the same guard accompanied by several other men approached them at a cafe. Khachatrian said the men roughed him up and threatened to kill him if he didn't back down. Khachatrian surrendered the photo card from his digital camera. (Note: Khachatrian suffered bruises and scratches that did not require hospitalization. End Note.) ¶4. (SBU) According to press accounts, Khachatrian described his attackers as "the same type of men" who attacked photojournalists at two rallies in April (reftel). Israelian, who was one of the journalists attacked on April 5, told the press that she would not lodge a formal police complaint because of the "ineffectiveness" of the April investigation. -------------- PRESS CLUB WILL WORK WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT -------------- ¶5. (SBU) The Union of Journalists and the Yerevan Press Club publicly denounced the attack. We spoke with Boris Navasardyan, the president of the Yerevan Press Club who stated that a local media advocacy group wrote a letter to the Prosecutor General's office in June complaining about the recent attacks on journalists, and he noted that this most recent attack would become part of the discussion. He told us that the advocacy group, known as the Media Working Group, plans to hold meetings with top law enforcement officials in the second half of September to discuss methods of preventing and effectively prosecuting the perpetrators of such attacks. Post will continue to monitor the statements of the Media Working Group and the reception its concerns receive from law enforcement. EVANS