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EITHER STRONGER THAN THE GOVERNMENT OR THE GOVERNMENT ITSELF

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  Violence against reporters seems to become a routine. The law enforcers had not managed to reveal the assault on Lusine Barseghyan, reporter of the Haykakan Zhamanak Newspaper, when the assault on Hrach Melkumyan, reporter for Radio Liberty, occurred. Two cases have accrued, and now the work load of the law enforcers surely will not let them reveal either of the cases. We may even suppose that the wrongdoers of what happened to Hrach Melkumyan took that step to load the law enforcers rather than to intimidate the reporter, for the law enforcers to have lesser possibility to reveal the previous case or cases. In other words, it is worthwhile for the police or the office of prosecutor general to state that what happened was an effort to dissolve the effectiveness of the law enforcement system rather than an encroachment on freedom of speech, a reporter. It is even possible to cling to the word “dissolve” and accuse the opposition for what happened, since they were unable to dissolve the system in a downward manner and are now making efforts to dissolve it in an upward manner. In fact, what is happening to the Armenian reporters for the second time within such a short period of time, and what has already happened before to people of different jobs and specialties who dared to express a different opinion in this country is a worrying and serious problem. In fact, a consistent policy of intimidation is carried on in Armenia from which no citizen is protected if their opinion differs from that of the government and they dare to share their opinion with more than one people. The fact that our law enforcers have revealed no wrongdoers is evidence that either our law enforcement system psychologically is not ready to protect the citizens who think otherwise, guarantee their security or simply has no such instruction, or maybe on the contrary, there is an instruction not to hinder the process of intimidation which still an invisible force has now undertaken in different parts of the city which has not been revealed, so it is either stronger than the government or is the government itself. And sufficient reason for this suggestion is found in the behavior of at least one of the representatives of the government, the new prime minister Tigran Sargsyan. When he had just been appointed as prime minister, he started thinking about protecting the honor and dignity of officials from the press, and even stated that he had instructed to work out a corresponding legislation which would make the press in Armenia alert. Meanwhile, for whatever reason, Tigran Sargsyan is not similarly energetic in protecting the workers of the press from some unknown savages. This behavior of the prime minister makes think. Although it is clear that in the pyramid called the government Tigran Sargsyan is not the figure who can make decisions on protecting officials from the press or the press from the officials. Now his main function is to speak, calmly, possibly in literary Armenian, to change the idea of an official among the citizens of Armenia. It is another issue whether Tigran Sargsyan succeeds, meanwhile his behavior regarding incidents involving the press amazes but perhaps does not irritate, after all it is clear that his behavior is not deciding. But whose behavior is deciding in Armenia for the society to turn to that very person or organization for protection? Perhaps this is the greatest question which requires an answer. The behavior of the Armenian government is evidence to a huge gap of responsibility which nobody dares to fill in. Perhaps this is the reason why the head of state and the secretary of the council of security are watching the Olympic Games in Beijing when the situation in the region is tense. And if the Russian-Georgian war threatening Armenia with complete blockade is less worrying for them than the Olympic Games, how about the assault on one or two reporters or a few young people for political dissent? HAKOB BADALYAN

• THE STATEMENT OF THE ARMENIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS

  Late in the evening of August 18 Hrach Melkumyan, reporter for Radio Liberty, acting editor, was assaulted and beaten. The act of violence against the reported took place under threats of obviously political ...

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• GROUP OF ARMENIAN SPECIALISTS WORKED IN GEORGIA

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• EITHER STRONGER THAN THE GOVERNMENT OR THE GOVERNMENT ITSELF

  Violence against reporters seems to become a routine. The law enforcers had not managed to reveal the assault on Lusine Barseghyan, reporter of the Haykakan Zhamanak Newspaper, when the assault on Hrach ...

• ARMTECH CONGRESS IS ADOPTED AS ARMENIA’S BLOBAL HIGH TECH INDUSTRY CONFERENCE

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• TAX AND CUSTOMS SERVICES MERGE

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• GAGIK KHACHATRYAN HEADS THE NEW COMMITTEE

  On August 20 Serge Sargsyan signed a decree on dismissing the head of the state tax committee Vahram Barseghyan. By another decree Gagik Khachatryan was dismissed from the post of head of the state customs ...

• CONFERENCE THAT WILL ANSWER A LOT OF QUESTIONS

• POLITICAL PARTIES OF ARMENIA ARE APPARENTLY MENTAL VIRGINS

• MILLIONS BURIED IN THE GROUND

• RETURN FROM POLITICAL PROCESS TO TRIFLES

• ARMENIA’S REQUEST FROM WORLD BANK – 1 BILLION DOLLARS

• SERGE SARGSYAN OFFERED CONDOLENCES TO THE GEORGIAN PRESIDENT

  

• BETWEEN THE GEORGIAN AND RUSSIAN BEARS

  

• U.S. EMBASSY FEATURES HISPANIC-AMERICAN HERITAGE AND MARIACHI IMPERIAL DE AMERICA, AUGUST 16-23

  

• A GOVERNMENT WHICH IS NOT ADEQUATE TO THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL SITUATION

  

• THE STATE OF HEALTH OF MIASNIK MALKHASYAN IS CRITICAL

• THE FOURTH MEDAL OF ARMENIA

• GIVING UP ONE BY ONE TO BE CALLED A STATE FOR ONE MORE DAY

• INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DOUBTS RUSSIA

• MEDVEDEV TOLD SERGE SARGSYAN

• CSTO EXECUTIVE SECRETARY IN YEREVAN

• 1882  The Armenian Teachers of the Caucasus First General Meeting opens in Tbilissi (Georgia).
• 1899  Stepan Shahumian presides over Armenia's first Marxist group in Stepanavan.
• 1916  Birth of Tatevik Sazandaryan (singer).

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