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UK Section |
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AEJ writes to Armenian President, Mr
Serzh Sarkissian |
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Eduk Baghdasaryan,
editor of Hetq Online and AEJ member, was assaulted by unknown assailants in Yerevan
on 17 November. He was treated in hospital for a head injury caused by a rock
that was thrown at him. His colleague Liana Sayadyan told the
AEJ's congress of countless attacks on journalists by criminals who are
rarely brought to justice. LETTER TO MR SARKISSIAN To
President Serzh Sarkissian, Yerevan Dear President Sarkissian, We write to express our shock and deep concern at the violent assault
perpetrated by as yet unidentified assailants against our colleague and
fellow member of the AEJ, Eduk Baghdasaryan, Editor of the "Hetq"
online newspaper, in Yerevan last Monday, November 17th, which
caused him serious head injuries requiring hospital treatment. As you are aware, Mr President, this is the latest of a series of
unprovoked and horrifying physical attacks against journalists in your
country since the start of this year. It is very disturbing to learn that
many such attacks against media professionals have taken place, apparently in
a coordinated attempt by some person or persons unknown to hinder or stop the
work of free and independent reporting; and also that Armenia's police
and judicial authorities have routinely failed so far to identify those
responsible and bring them to justice swiftly. The AEJ, made up of one thousand journalists working in more than 20 European states, including Armenia, passed a resolution at the Association's plenary meeting in Linz, Austria, on November 22nd, to express the |
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We deplore this situation, express our solidarity with our Armenian colleagues and wish Eduk a swift recovery. As a result of the incident, the AEJ's President and its Media Freedom Representative sent the following letter to the President of Armenia. Copy sent to Mr Hasmik
Petrossian Head of Public Relations and Mass Media 23 November 2008 condemnation of all our members for this and similar crimes. We recall
that Armenia, as a member state of the Council of Europe, is committed to the
rule of law and to media freedom, including proper protection to
journalists from such apparently organised and vicious
assaults. Any persistent failure by government authorities to take
action to stop these attacks and to punish those who carry them out
or order them may be seen as a violation of solemn commitments
given to the Council of Europe and to other international bodies, as well as
of Armenia's national laws. This is a time of strong concern and watchfulness on the
part of the AEJ and other international organisations which uphold
the fundamental principle of freedom of the media. We ask
you to clearly demonstrate your commitment now by taking
vigorous steps to protect the personal safety of your country's journalists. Yours sincerely, William Horsley, AEJ Media Freedom Representative Diego Carcedo, AEJ President |
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OTHER PAGES Press
Coverage of the Media Freedom Survey |
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