Pro-western NGOs call for holdingMP responsible for insulting journalist
ArmInfo.A number of pro-Western journalistic NGOs have called for disciplinary action against Hovik Agazaryan, a member of the Armenian parliament from the ruling Civil Contract faction, for insulting Knar Manukyan, a journalist from the Armlur.am website.
In a statement received by ArmInfo, the NGOs recalled that earlier, when National Assembly member Agazaryan collided with a journalist from the Zhoghovurd newspaper accredited in the parliament, he insulted her, accusing her of distorting his words given in an interview.
The NGOs note that, according to the journalist, the MP called her a "scoundrel" and "disgusting", uttering words of hatred: "Persian, you are worse than a Persian woman." The NGOs admitted that they find it difficult to say what the MP meant by these statements and emphasized that representatives of other media witnessed the incident.
Journalistic organizations condemned such behavior by the deputy from the ruling faction, emphasizing that this is not the first case of disrespect and insults from the National Assembly deputies towards journalists.
"This is a serious issue that should be the subject of a comprehensive discussion in the parliamentary ethics committee, the creation and activities of which, for unknown reasons, are not becoming a reality," the NGO said in a statement. At the same time, the journalistic organizations demanded that MP Hovik Agazaryan publicly apologize to journalist Knar Manukyan and guarantee that he will not allow disrespectful treatment of media representatives in the future. In addition, they called on the Civil Contract faction to assess Hovik Agazaryan's behavior and inform the public about it.
"We expect the parliament's leadership to take measures to relieve tensions in relations between the MP and the journalist, as well as to investigate the conflicts that arise and develop conclusions in the ethics commission," the statement reads. The statement was signed by the Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Speech, the Yerevan Press Club, the Media Initiatives Center, the Institute for Media Diversity, the Public Journalism Club, the Journalists for the Future public organization, Journalists for Human Rights, and the Goris Press Club NGO.
In 2023, a number of journalistic organizations issued a statement condemning the fact that parliamentary journalist Knar Manukyan was stripped of her accreditation. "Indeed, this conflict between the parties is not new, and it began on March 21, when the same media correspondent filmed security forces waiting for an order to calm the tense situation in the meeting room. Later, this material was published on the website "Armlur.am" owned by the daily newspaper and became the reason for presenting the editorial board with the first warning.
Then the dissatisfaction of the NA apparatus was caused by the fact that the journalist carried out his activities not in a specially designated place for media representatives in the NA residence, but in an officially "prohibited zone". In addition, according to the letter of the headquarters, Knar Manukyan "carried out professional activities without the consent of the deputy, continued to harass and raise slanderous and offensive questions," the statement said.