JOURNALIST ATTACKED!

[Belka]

[ 25.08.2004 ]
JOURNALIST ORGANIZATIONS DEMAND THAT LAW-ENFORCEMENT BODIES
SHOULD PUNISH THOSE APPLYING VIOLENCE IN RELATION TO JOURNALISTS

YEREVAN, August 25 (Noyan Tapan). The Journalists' Union of Armenia and
Yerevan Press Club made a statement condemning the application of violence
in relation to Mkhitar Khachatrian, a photographer of the "Photolur" agency,
a member of the Journalists' Union of Armenia, who being anxious about the
problem of forests made a business trip to Tsakhkadzor on August 24.

Strictly condemning the regular act of violence in relation to a journalist
while discharging his obligations the authors of the statement demand a
concrete mediation from the law-enforcement bodies for the purpose of
detecting and punishing those who are guilty.

They emphasize that unknown persons attacked the photographer, "took away
the memory card of the camera with application of violence, rude abuses and
frightening expressions and inflicted a corporal injury to him." The
Journalists' Union of Armenia and Yerevan Press Club also mention that acts
of violence in relation to journalists and hampering of their work are the
consequences of non-punishment of the analogous incidents that happened
before.


Armenian Journalist Beaten For Filming Luxury Villas
By Ruzanna Khachatrian

An Armenian photojournalist was beaten up Tuesday for taking pictures of
plush mansions apparently belonging to a high-level police official and
other government-connected individuals, the latest in a series of violent
attacks on representatives of the country's media.

[/b] Mkhitar Khachatrian of the Photolur agency [/b] was attacked in Tsaghkadzor, a resort town in central Armenia where he was on assignment together with Anna Israelian, a correspondent for the independent daily "Aravot." Israelian was preparing an article about the damage to local mountainous forests caused by housing construction in recent years.

The two reporters told RFE/RL that they were surveying an expensive
residential area when a man guarding one of its houses, reputedly owned by
Armen Yeritsian, deputy chief of the national police, told Khachatrian to
stop taking pictures.

"It was a very beautiful building and I wanted to photograph it,"
Khachatrian said. "He told me that I can't do that, saying 'Do you know
whose neighborhood you have entered?'. But I did take a shot and left the
neighborhood."

The reporters said they were later confronted by the same person at an
indoor cafe as they were about to leave Tsaghkadzor. "The man who warned me against taking pictures recognized me and then called a group of other men.
Suddenly one of them attacked me," said Khachatrian, who had traces of
violence on his neck and arms.

The photographer added that the man kicked, punched, cursed and threatened to kill him. He said he prevented his expensive digital camera from being smashed by surrendering its picture storage card to the attackers. "They would have broken the camera had I not told them to take the card. I had no choice," he said.

Khachatrian described the attackers as burly men with "shaven heads and
thick necks." The description matches the appearance of two dozen thugs that indiscriminately destroyed video and still cameras which filmed their
attempts to stir up trouble at an opposition rally in Yerevan on April 5.
Riot police stood by and refused to intervene, giving weight to reports that
the violence was provoked by the Armenian authorities.

Israelian said he believes that the man who beat Khachatrian was the chief
bodyguard of Levon Sargsian, a wealthy pro-government parliamentarian notorious for punching an opposition colleague two years ago. Also having a house in the same Tsaghkadzor area is Gagik Tsarukian, one of Armenia's richest men who also holds a parliament seat.

According to some media reports, Tsarukian's and Sargsian's men were among
the participants of the April 5 rampage. Only two of them have faced a
largely symbolic punishment for their role in the violence. A Yerevan court
fined them 100,000 drams ($195) each on June 10 following a brief trial
dismissed as a "farce" by Armenia's leading media associations.

Two of those groups, the Armenian Journalists Union and the Yerevan Press
Club were quick to condemn the Tsaghkadzor attack. "The violence against the journalist and the obstruction of his work are the consequence of the
failure to punish those guilty of the previous incidents," they said in a
joint statement. "We demand a meaningful intervention from the
law-enforcement bodies to identify and punish the guilty."

But Israelian, who lost her camera on April 5 and was a key witness at the
subsequent trial, said it would be "ridiculous" for her to turn to the
police again. Khachatrian, who is the author of the most famous photograph
of victims of the catastrophic 1988 earthquake in Armenia, likewise said he will not lodge a formal complaint with the law-enforcement authorities.

Violence against Armenian journalists, uncommon in the past, increased
dramatically this year with the start of the Armenian opposition's
unsuccessful spring campaign to oust President Robert Kocharian. In the most serious of such incidents, four reporters were beaten up by security forces during the brutal of break-up of another opposition demonstration in Yerevan in the early hours of April 13. Two of them were severely injured.
_____________________________

looking forward for the Armenian version

[Belka]

Man Detained Over Assault On Photojournalist
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenian law-enforcement authorities said on Thursday they have detained the
man who they believe attacked a photojournalist after he took pictures of
luxury villas in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor apparently belonging to
high-level officials and government-connected businessmen.

Mkhitar Khachatrian of the Photolur agency visited Tsaghkadzor on Tuesday
with Anna Israelian, a correspondent for the "Aravot" daily, to assess
damages caused to local forests by housing construction in recent years. The
reporters say Khachatrian was forced to surrender the photo storage card of
his digital camera after being beaten by one of several well-built men that
guarded the villas.

In a brief statement, the Office of Prosecutor-General said detained and
questioned on Wednesday "the individual who committed the crime." He was
identified as Gagik Stepanian. The statement said Stepanian will be charged
with "hooliganism" and obstruction of journalists' work. But it did not
specify whether he was released after the interrogation or will be kept in
custody pending trial.

According to Israelian, law-enforcement sources have unofficially confirmed
that the 43-year-old man is a bodyguard of Levon Sargsian, a pro-government
parliamentarian and wealthy businessman. Contacted by RFE/RL, Sargsian
denied the information. But he added that the suspect "may be my
acquaintance."

Sargsian also confirmed that he has a villa in a picturesque area of
Tsaghkadzor that used to be part of the nearby mountainous forest. He said
he would have no problem with any journalist photographing the property.

"Just let me know and I'll invite you to Tsaghkadzor," the lawmaker better
known to the public as "Alraghatsi Lyov" told RFE/RL. "I will treat you to
dinner and you'll see that I have nothing to hide there."

Other houses in the exclusive neighborhood reportedly belong to Armen
Yeritsian, deputy chief of the national Police Service, customs chief Armen
Avetisian and millionaire businessman Gagik Tsarukian.

Khachatrian and Israelian believe that the attack was initiated by a man who
guarded Yeritsian's mansion. They say he told Khachatrian to stop
photographing it before ordering other men to attack him.

Israelian dismissed the criminal investigation as a public relations stunt,
pointing to the Armenian authorities' failure to punish any of the
perpetrators of similar attacks on journalists earlier this year. Israelian
was among those reporters who had their still and video cameras smashed by
two dozen burly men that attempted to disrupt an opposition rally in Yerevan
on April 5. The government's response to the rampage amounted to minor fines
imposed on only two of the thugs.

"I think that there will again be a symbolic punishment," the veteran
"Aravot" reporter predicted. "That man seems to be aware of this reality
because when he grabbed the camera he said confidently, 'I'll destroy it and
then pay its cost.'"

Armenia's two leading media associations have strongly condemned the
Tsaghkadzor incident, saying that it was the result of the authorities'
failure to properly investigate the earlier attacks and punish the guilty.

Also voicing concern was the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a
leading international media watchdog based in New York. "CPJ calls on
Armenian authorities to investigate the beating of our colleague and bring
the man who attacked him to justice," its executive director, Ann Cooper,
said in a statement on Wednesday. "We urge officials to ensure that
journalists in Armenia are able to do their jobs without fear for their
safety."

[Belka]

RA PROSECUTOR GENERAL's OFFICE TAKES MEASURES ON AUGUST 24 INCIDENT

YEREVAN, AUGUST 26. ARMINFO. In connection with an attack on journalists in Tsakhkadzor, on August 24, the RA prosecutor General's Office has taken a number of measures.

On August 25, the Department for Protection of State Interests, RA Prosecutor General's Office, initiated criminal proceedings. The investigative body identified the attacker, Gagik Stepanyan, who was brought to the RA Prosecutor General's Office. The journalist Anna Israelyan said that he is one of the body-guards of the parliament member Levon Sargsyan.

According to the preliminary information, the photographer of the "Fotolur" agency Mkhitar Khachatryan took pictures of some mansions in the forest zone and returned to the Writers' Holiday Home in Tsakhkadzor. He was in the hall with the correspondent of the "Aravot" newspaper Anna Israelyan, when Mkhitar Khachatryan attacked him, and, in the presence of the holiday-makers and personnel insulted the journalists, threatened them and, punching Mkhitar Khachatryan on the head, demanded that he give him [Stapanyan] the pictures. Then, at the cabinet of the Director of the holiday home, in the presence of the Director, literary critic Ashot Yeghiazaryan, as well as others, Stepanyan continued beating Khachatryan. Finally, seizing the memory card of the camera from him, the attacker retired. In his evidence given at the RA Prosecutor General's Office, Khachatryan confirmed the fact of hooliganism against him, but refused to undergo a forensic medical examination.

[Belka]

ГЕНПРОКУРАТУРА АРМЕНИИ ПРЕДПРИНЯЛА РЯД ДЕЙСТВИЙ В СВЯЗИ С СОВЕРШЕННЫМ 24 АВГУСТА В КУРОРТНОМ ПОСЕЛКЕ ЦАХКАДЗОР НАПАДЕНИЕМ НА ЖУРНАЛИСТОВ

ЕРЕВАН, 26.08.04. АРМИНФО. В связи с совершенным 24 августа в курортном поселке Армении Цахкадзор нападением на журналистов Генеральная Прокуратура РА предприняла ряд действий.

Напомним, что 24 августа корреспондент газеты "Аравот" Анна Исраэлян и фотокорреспондент агентства "Фотолур" Мхитар Хачатрян находились в Цахкадзоре, где готовили материал на экологическую и природоохранную тему. В частности, Мхитар Хачатрян сделал несколько снимков возведенных в лесной зоне частных особняков, которые, как удалось позже выяснить журналистам, принадлежали нескольким высокопоставленным должностным лицам. Когда позднее журналисты приехали в расположенный неподалеку Дом отдыха писателей, к ним подошли поджидавшие их неизвестные и один из них - "бритоголовый качок", как его назвали журналисты, буквально набросился на них. У Мхитара Хачатряна он попытался отнять приобретенный им недавно дорогостоящий цифровой фотоаппарат и в конце концов отобрал карту памяти фотоаппарата. Фотокорреспондент получил несколько ударов по голове. Досталось и привезшему в Цахкадзор журналистов водителю автомашины газеты "Аравот", которого, по словам Хачатряна, "мягко говоря, слегка потолкали".

Как сообщили сегодня агентству АРМИНФО в Генпрокуратуре Армении, 25 августа Управлением Генпрокуратуры по защите государственных интересов было возбуждено уголовное дело по 1-й части 164-й статьи и 1-й части 258 статьи Уголовного Кодекса РА. Следствием по делу была установлена личность нападавшего - жителя квартиры N 15 дома N 13 IV-го Норкского массива Еревана Гагика Степаняна 1961 года рождения, который был подвергнут приводу в Прокуратуру. Напомним, что, по утверждению Анны Исраэлян, он является сотрудником охраны депутата парламента Левона Саркисяна.

По предварительным данным, фотокорреспондент информационного агентства "Фотолур" Мхитар Хачатрян в ходе выполнения своего служебного долга по окончании фотосъемки нескольких особняков, расположенных в лесной зоне вернулся в Цахкадзорский Дом отдыха писателей. Когда он вместе с Анной Исраэлян и водителем служебной автомашины редакции газеты "Аравот" находились в фойе Дома отдыха Гагик Степанян напал на Мхитара Хачатряна и в присутствии отдыхающих и сотрудников пансионата позволил себе хулиганскую брань в адрес журналистов, угрозы, а также нанес несколько ударов кулаками по голове Мхитара Хачатряна, требуя отдать ему фотоснимки. Затем драка переместилась в рабочий кабинет директора Дома отдыха писателей, где в присутствии самого директора, а также литературоведа Ашота Егиазаряна и других Гагик Степанян продолжал свои хулиганские действия, нанося удары по голове, шее, спине и рукам Мхитара Хачатряна. При этом он крепко сжимал пальцами горло фотокорреспондента. В конце концов отобрав у Хачатряна карту памяти фотоаппарата, нападавший удалился. В показаниях, данных в Генеральной Прокуратуре Мхитар Хачатрян подтвердил факт совершенных в его отношении хулиганских действий, однако отказался подвергнуться судебно-медицинской экспертизе.

[кукарямба]

Да, теперь для того, чтобы быть журналистом и делать хорошие материалы безо всякой опасности для жизни, надо ходить с телохранителями, плюс ещё и быть очень смелым

[Belka]

i + ko wsemu ne zatragiwat' tem chastnoj sobstwennosti i construction-a ya znayu Mkhitara... profi... obidno i zlost' probiraet...

[кукарямба]

Originally Posted by Belka

i + ko wsemu ne zatragiwat' tem chastnoj sobstwennosti i construction-a ya znayu Mkhitara... profi... obidno i zlost' probiraet...

Мол, делайте безобидные материалы.......

[Երեխա]

Saprac Gluxneri petutyun

[Mono]

VaheX

Shumerneri elitan sapratz glux e yeghel. Aynpes vor sapratz gluxneri petutyun da kompliment e... lool.

Isk jurnalistnerin iskapes tzetzel petk chi. Nrank patkanum en andzrmxeli kastayin. Kartzem gitek ayd kastayi masin. Yes nuynisk chgiteyi vor irenc veraberyal sovorakan orenknere chen gortzum. Kartzum ei te mer nman mahkanacu en. En el parzvum e irenc tzetzelu depkum mi hodvatz e hasnum isk mez lriv urish ....

Yerespasht petutyun enk karucum... iske yevropakan... brrr

[Mono]

chnayatz tzetzel barn el arden haraberakan e darnum. Aradj yerb mardik himnakanum tghamard ein apa tzetzel nshanakum er mi kani hogov mi 10 udar tal. Aysor yerb tghamardkanc mot pakasum en tghamardkayin hormonnere apa tzetzel hamarvum e orinak fotoaparate dzerkic xlele, kam odzikic brnele. Yete ayspes sharunakvi hormonal processneri xaxtume apa vaghe tzetzel kdarna orinak tkele, isk vaghe che myus ore hayhoyele .....

Zarganum enk eli kamac kamac....

[darrel]

Originally Posted by Mono

Isk jurnalistnerin iskapes tzetzel petk chi. Nrank patkanum en andzrmxeli kastayin. Kartzem gitek ayd kastayi masin. Yes nuynisk chgiteyi vor irenc veraberyal sovorakan orenknere chen gortzum. Kartzum ei te mer nman mahkanacu en. En el parzvum e irenc tzetzelu depkum mi hodvatz e hasnum isk mez lriv urish ....

Voch mian lragrohner@, naev vostikanner@, datakan kataracuner@ ev mi sharq ajl petutian nerkaiacucichner ev bolor ajn andzinq ovqer gortsum en i shah hasarakutian@. Dranq bolor@ aveli pashtpanvac en qani vor pashtpanum en hanrutjan shaher@. Aio, Mono, lragroh@ shat angam vtangum e ir kjanq@ (Tsakhkadzorum aid eritasardin voch nian tseci en entarkel ajl naev xextum ein, vorpeszi aid chip@ ta) hanrajn, qani vor apahovum lratvutiun stanalu en im ev qo sahmanadrakan iravunq@.

Lragrohneri shnorhiv du karoh es kardal Iraqum, Rusastanum ev ail erkrnerum tehi unecoh iredarcutiunneri masin. Shat angam irenc spanum en, patant en vercnum, tseci en entarkum. Aid amen inchi katarvum e zud dra hamar vor menq stanank lratvutiun. Guce iroq charji mez hamar aid amen inch@ ancel? Ba mez petq e ov inch e karucel ev ov inch gorc e anum?

Harc@ mian lragrohneri pashtpanvacutiun@ che. Chi kareli aidpes arhamaranqov xosal voreve masnagitutian masin, petq e hargel mardkanc ashxatanq@, manavand vor bavakanin djvar ashxatanq e, ev vat varcatrvoh.

[Mono]

/// Dranq bolor@ aveli pashtpanvac en qani vor pashtpanum en hanrutjan shaher@. ///

Indz iskapes sksec hetakrkrel ays bolore.
darrel yes mi hat tema em bacum ko bajnum. indz hetakrkir e konkret ovker en aveli pashtpanvatz orenkov.

http://forum.armkb.com/showthread.ph...251#post132251


//// , Mono, lragroh@ shat angam vtangum e ir kjanq@ ////

Ayo vtangum e inchpes Tigran Naghdalyane. Bayc nra masin voch mek chhishatakec .... Miguce na __tjisht__ lragrogh cher ???

Lragroghneri masin yes mi hodvatz kgrem..... Erevum e ays teman shat aktual e darnalu mot apagayum

[tig]

Originally Posted by Mono

Aradj yerb mardik himnakanum tghamard ein apa tzetzel nshanakum er mi kani hogov mi 10 udar tal.

да, вдесятером на одного могут только мужчины с большой буквы ! где же они все теперь, ах, где ?

[Mono]

tig

10 udar stacoghn e tghamarde voch te tvoghnere.... tvoghnere karogh lakot lukutneri vohmak lini.....

I dep *Or* terti xmbagrin vor tzetzecin kartzem shuxur chelav. Inchkan gitem minchev hima el chen brnel ed tzetzoghnerin. Te *Or* -in hasnum er tzetz vorovhetev hamardzakvel er Aravot terti xmbagri dem yelnel ....

Bolorn el en jamanak haskacan vor tzetzoghnerin ugharkel e Aram Abrahamyane.

Iravapasthpannern el en jamanak shuxur chhanecin, chnayatz vor minchev hima Hamatyezerakan voghbe sharunakvum e kapvatz aprili 5-in mi erku kotrvatz kamerayi hamar....

[Obelix]

>Mono
Uzum es dra anuny dir tsetsel, uzum es chakaty pachel. Mek e, mardu dzeric fotoapparty xlely ev odziqic brnely da brnutyun e. Mi koghm ayn, vor nerkayacvats nyuteri hamadzayn aystegh kar shat aveli kan da.