Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech is concerned about increased pressure on journalists in Armenia

The second quarter of 2011, as compared with the first one, saw an increase in the number of cases of pressure on journalists in Armenia. This was reported today at a press conference by Ashot Melikyan, Chairman of the Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech. According to his story, while during the first three months there were no incidents of violence against journalists, there were already two such cases in the second quarter of 2011.

According to the report prepared by the Committee, the number of violations of the right to obtain or disseminate information has gone up.

Mr Melikyan listed the incidents of physical violence against the press workers.

According to his story, the increase in the number of cases of pressure on journalists, namely a sharp increase in the number of lawsuits against mass media, is especially worrying.

"The situation with the freedom of speech is causing concern. Armenian media work in quite difficult conditions, as evidenced by numerous lawsuits, which, as a rule, are won by people with certain political and economic weight," said Melikyan.

In the second quarter of this year, out of the six cases of pressure on the media, registered by the Committee, four were lawsuits filed by certain senior officials or members of the National Assembly against newspapers.