The recent clashes between the law enforcement and citizens in Ijevan
revealed how frightened the authorities of Armenia are, Satik Seyranyan,
the Chairwoman of the Union of Journalists of Armenia told at a round
table discussion titled “Violence and Hate Speech.” During the
discussion organized by the Media Advocate initiative, Seyranyan
suggested the disarray shown by the responsible state bodies was
explicitly expressed especially in media and on social media platforms.
“First, wide-spread profanity, then calls for violence, propagation of
hate speech followed. The strategy has changed a bit today. Some MPs
make use of the practice to appeal to courts, filing defamation and
slander lawsuits. The strategy is designed to harm the media. Why media?
The media acts as the opposition in these days. They [authorities] say
we are the good ones yet the media discredit us. This was the case
previously with a bit different lexicon,” Seyranyan said, presenting
what she named to be the ongoing pressures on the media and the press.
She predicted the media will be attacked even more in autumn when the
political processes are active. “Nikol Pashinyan will be the first
responsible person for this since we never saw him condemning the
practice, quite the opposite,” the head of the Union of Journalists
said.