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On November 17, 2008, Mr. Edik Baghdasaryan, a highly respected journalist, Chief Editor of the Armenian daily Hetq (Track) and the President of Investigative Journalists’ Association of Armenia, sustained severe head injuries after being attacked by three assailants as he was leaving his workplace; the attackers also stole Mr. Baghdasaryan's camera. This incident occurred following repeated “warnings” and "threats" received by the Hetq staff.
We strongly condemn these acts of violence and intimidation, and call upon the authorities to investigate these crimes and prosecute the assailants. The international community has also taken note of the frequent violations of basic freedoms of the press. For example, the Paris-based organization, Reporters Without Borders (RWB), has dropped Armenia from 77th to 102nd position on a list of 173 countries ranked by their press freedom. The perception of foreign observers following the beating of Edik Baghdasaryan was succinctly captured in a letter addressed to Mr. Edward Nalbandian, the Foreign Minister of Armenia, by the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Mr. Miklos Haraszti, who wrote: "Violence against journalists is not 'crime as usual', because it undermines a basic institution of democracy - the free press".
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