Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09YEREVAN302
2009-05-08 10:01:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Yerevan
Cable title:
ARMENIAN JOURNALIST SURVIVES APPARENT MURDER ATTEMPT
VZCZCXRO9425 RR RUEHDBU RUEHLN RUEHSK RUEHVK RUEHYG DE RUEHYE #0302/01 1281001 ZNR UUUUU ZZH R 081001Z MAY 09 FM AMEMBASSY YEREVAN TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9008 INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORPORATION WASHINGTON DC RUEHNO/USMISSION USNATO 0702
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000302
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AM
SUBJECT: ARMENIAN JOURNALIST SURVIVES APPARENT MURDER ATTEMPT
YEREVAN 00000302 001.2 OF 002
-------
SUMMARY
-------
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEREVAN 000302
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AM
SUBJECT: ARMENIAN JOURNALIST SURVIVES APPARENT MURDER ATTEMPT
YEREVAN 00000302 001.2 OF 002
--------------
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (SBU) On April 30 journalist and attorney Argishti Kivirian was
brutally attacked in his apartment building in the early morning
hours upon returning home from work. Kivirian's wife, Lusine
Sahakian, is also an attorney known for defending former prosecutor
Jhangirian and his brother in a highly politically charged trial,
which could be another possible motive for the attack. Kivirian
remains hospitalized with severe injuries. Police have launched an
investigation. END SUMMARY.
--------------
MOST BRUTAL ATTACK ON A JOURNALIST SO FAR
--------------
2. (SBU) Around 5am on April 30, three unknown assailants attacked
Argishti Kivirian with wooden batons in the entrance hall of his
apartment building as he was returning home from his office.
Kivirian's wife and sister ran out of their apartment when they
heard noise from the scuffle, and they heard three gun shots before
the assailants ran away. (Note: Apparently this was the regular
time when Kivirian returned from work. End note.) According to the
family members, Kivirian, who was covered in blood, had managed to
explain that one of the attackers had tried to shoot him, but he had
managed to divert the bullets by holding away the hand of the
shooter. Kivirian was rushed to a hospital with severe injuries and
cuts on his head and body, and was placed in intensive care. He
remains in the hospital and his condition, initially evaluated as
grave, is currently not life-threatening.
--------------
MOTIVES BEHIND THE ATTACK UNCLEAR
--------------
3. (SBU) Lusine Sahakyan told Emboff that in addition to gunshots,
she heard the assailants shouting "we are going to kill you anyway"
as they ran away. She hypothesized that the attackers wanted to
beat her husband to death to deliver a point, and resorted to guns
only when they heard people running to the scene. She was reluctant
to talk about what might have triggered the murder attempt, saying
that it could be related to the professional activity of either one
of them. In a press conference held on May 5, human rights activist
Avetik Ishkhanian said that he is sure that the attack aimed to kill
Kivirian based on a "political order."
4. (SBU) Kivirian maintains two news websites: Armenia Today and
Bagin. The first one focuses on local news (with an independent
editorial slant that is neither pro-government nor pro-opposition).
The other covers news of Javakh, the Armenian-populated region of
southern Georgia. (Comment: Media contacts told Emboffs that to
their knowledge Kivirian had done nothing out of the ordinary in his
news coverage on either site, and that both of these are rather
low-profile news sources in Armenia. End Comment)
5. (SBU) Lusine Sahakian gained prominence through defending former
Deputy Prosecutor General Gagik Jahangirian, who was arrested
shortly after publicly voicing support for opposition leader Levon
Ter-Petrosian in February 2008. She is also involved in numerous
other trials of opposition supporters. Sahakian reported that
police guarded the hospital for the first day; since then, she and
other friends and family have maintained a vigil to ensure that
Kivirian is never left alone.
--------------
POLICE ACTIONS RAISE SUSPICIONS
--------------
6. (SBU) Photos taken immediately after the attack by an
opposition-leaning free lance journalist, Gagik Shamshian, show a
bloody scene with one wooden baton left behind by the attackers and
two bullet shells. These bullet shells, however, were missing from
photos taken less than an hour after, once the police had arrived
and conducted their examination of the crime scene. Police launched
an investigation into the case under charges of "infliction of
willful light damage to health," and say they have not found any
evidence of shooting. (Comment: The charge noted in the
investigation seems to us mild given the severity of the attack. End
comment
7. (SBU) One of our Political FSNs lives in the building where the
attack occurred. While she personally did not hear anything, her
family members did hear the noise of the attack, including the gun
shots. Our FSN reported that witnesses questioned by police said
the investigators were skeptical of reports of gunshots, and tried
to persuade witnesses that the sounds might have been some other
sort of loud noise.
YEREVAN 00000302 002.2 OF 002
--------------
IMPUNITY LEAVES JOURNALISTS UNPROTECTED
--------------
8. (SBU) Human rights and media organizations, opposition parties,
some MPs, Human Rights Defender Armen Harutyunian, as well as the
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Miklos Haraszti
condemned the attack and called on the Armenian authorities to
conduct a swift investigation. According to Haraszti and others,
the lack of prosecutions in cases of violence against journalists
creates an atmosphere of impunity for the perpetrators and can
provoke other similar attacks.
YOVANOVITCH
SENSITIVE
SIPDIS
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PREL AM
SUBJECT: ARMENIAN JOURNALIST SURVIVES APPARENT MURDER ATTEMPT
YEREVAN 00000302 001.2 OF 002
--------------
SUMMARY
--------------
1. (SBU) On April 30 journalist and attorney Argishti Kivirian was
brutally attacked in his apartment building in the early morning
hours upon returning home from work. Kivirian's wife, Lusine
Sahakian, is also an attorney known for defending former prosecutor
Jhangirian and his brother in a highly politically charged trial,
which could be another possible motive for the attack. Kivirian
remains hospitalized with severe injuries. Police have launched an
investigation. END SUMMARY.
--------------
MOST BRUTAL ATTACK ON A JOURNALIST SO FAR
--------------
2. (SBU) Around 5am on April 30, three unknown assailants attacked
Argishti Kivirian with wooden batons in the entrance hall of his
apartment building as he was returning home from his office.
Kivirian's wife and sister ran out of their apartment when they
heard noise from the scuffle, and they heard three gun shots before
the assailants ran away. (Note: Apparently this was the regular
time when Kivirian returned from work. End note.) According to the
family members, Kivirian, who was covered in blood, had managed to
explain that one of the attackers had tried to shoot him, but he had
managed to divert the bullets by holding away the hand of the
shooter. Kivirian was rushed to a hospital with severe injuries and
cuts on his head and body, and was placed in intensive care. He
remains in the hospital and his condition, initially evaluated as
grave, is currently not life-threatening.
--------------
MOTIVES BEHIND THE ATTACK UNCLEAR
--------------
3. (SBU) Lusine Sahakyan told Emboff that in addition to gunshots,
she heard the assailants shouting "we are going to kill you anyway"
as they ran away. She hypothesized that the attackers wanted to
beat her husband to death to deliver a point, and resorted to guns
only when they heard people running to the scene. She was reluctant
to talk about what might have triggered the murder attempt, saying
that it could be related to the professional activity of either one
of them. In a press conference held on May 5, human rights activist
Avetik Ishkhanian said that he is sure that the attack aimed to kill
Kivirian based on a "political order."
4. (SBU) Kivirian maintains two news websites: Armenia Today and
Bagin. The first one focuses on local news (with an independent
editorial slant that is neither pro-government nor pro-opposition).
The other covers news of Javakh, the Armenian-populated region of
southern Georgia. (Comment: Media contacts told Emboffs that to
their knowledge Kivirian had done nothing out of the ordinary in his
news coverage on either site, and that both of these are rather
low-profile news sources in Armenia. End Comment)
5. (SBU) Lusine Sahakian gained prominence through defending former
Deputy Prosecutor General Gagik Jahangirian, who was arrested
shortly after publicly voicing support for opposition leader Levon
Ter-Petrosian in February 2008. She is also involved in numerous
other trials of opposition supporters. Sahakian reported that
police guarded the hospital for the first day; since then, she and
other friends and family have maintained a vigil to ensure that
Kivirian is never left alone.
--------------
POLICE ACTIONS RAISE SUSPICIONS
--------------
6. (SBU) Photos taken immediately after the attack by an
opposition-leaning free lance journalist, Gagik Shamshian, show a
bloody scene with one wooden baton left behind by the attackers and
two bullet shells. These bullet shells, however, were missing from
photos taken less than an hour after, once the police had arrived
and conducted their examination of the crime scene. Police launched
an investigation into the case under charges of "infliction of
willful light damage to health," and say they have not found any
evidence of shooting. (Comment: The charge noted in the
investigation seems to us mild given the severity of the attack. End
comment
7. (SBU) One of our Political FSNs lives in the building where the
attack occurred. While she personally did not hear anything, her
family members did hear the noise of the attack, including the gun
shots. Our FSN reported that witnesses questioned by police said
the investigators were skeptical of reports of gunshots, and tried
to persuade witnesses that the sounds might have been some other
sort of loud noise.
YEREVAN 00000302 002.2 OF 002
--------------
IMPUNITY LEAVES JOURNALISTS UNPROTECTED
--------------
8. (SBU) Human rights and media organizations, opposition parties,
some MPs, Human Rights Defender Armen Harutyunian, as well as the
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Miklos Haraszti
condemned the attack and called on the Armenian authorities to
conduct a swift investigation. According to Haraszti and others,
the lack of prosecutions in cases of violence against journalists
creates an atmosphere of impunity for the perpetrators and can
provoke other similar attacks.
YOVANOVITCH