ARMENIAN JOURNALIST BEATEN UP IN YEREVAN – RUSSIAN REPORT

Regnum news agency
May 13 2012
Russia

[translated from Russian]

The editor of the Yerevan bureau of Russian news agency Regnum was
brutally beaten on 12 May, the news agency has reported.

Ruben Grdzelyan was beaten by a group of people, including a regional
official, in Yerevan in presence of his mother and his two children,
nephew and pregnant wife, the report said.

The official had a verbal argument with Grdzelyan after the
journalist’s children impeded a car, which presumably carried the
official’s son, as it drove out of the courtyard. The official hit
Grdzelyan, received “a response” and then, together with a person
who accompanied him, assaulted the journalist, with the official’s
son and one more person joining them several seconds later. The four
men beat the journalist on the ground until he passed out, Regnum said.

Grdzelyan reported the incident to the police.

In the meantime, Armenian Tert.am news website quoted Grdzelyan as
saying that the incident was not connected with his professional
activity and was a “routine” incident.

The report also said that Grdzelyan confirmed reports of the change
of Regnum’s owner. He said the owner is not from Armenia “and will
hardly be known to Armenian society”, the report said. It said “some
media outlets claim the new owner of the agency is Armenia’s second
president Robert Kocharyan”. Regnum’s editor-in-chief Modest Kolerov
left his office and was replaced by Vigen Hakobyan, the report said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress