More than 160 representatives of Armenian media demand that parliament
speaker give political assessment of MP’S bad behavior
YEREVAN, December 21. / ARKA /. More than 160 representatives of the
Armenian media community have undersigned a letter to National
Assembly speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, demanding that he give a political
assessment of the bad behavior of an MP from the ruling Republican
Party of Armenia, Mher Sedrakyan, who has become embroiled in a
scandal after threatening to `break the jaw’ of a journalist who
asked him for comment.
The incident happened after Mher Arshakian, a journalist with the
independent TV station A1+, approached Mher Sedrakian in the National
Assembly on Wednesday. Video of the incident released by A1+ shows
Sedrakian threatening to `break the jaw’ of the journalist and telling
him to `get the hell out.’
The video triggered a media uproar. Deputy parliament speaker Eduard
Sharmazanov and several other senior members of the Republican Party
apologized quickly to the journalist for the incident.
The letter, which has already been sent to the National Assembly,
cites numerous occasions, when members of Armenian parliament, “to say
the least, behaved inappropriately with journalists.”
“The incident with Mher Sedrakyan is just a recent example which is
the last straw. In our work we have to often associate with MPs who do
not know the rules of simple human communication,’ the letter says. It
calls on law-enforcement authorities to make an investigation.
“We do not expect condemning statements; we do not expect expressions
of deep regret. We demand a political assessment of what happened and
your assurances as parliamentary speaker, that no such incident will
remain without consequences. We also demand that Mher Sedrakian
apologize publicly to the journalist for his behavior”, the letter
says. -0-
From: Baghdasarian