Zhirayr Voskanyan

Affiliated media: 1in.am, Journalist

Incident date: May 5, 2024

Attack type:

• Non-fatal attack / beating / injury / torture

Who attacked: Non-authorities

Source: Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression

Location: Armenia, Yerevan

Additional information:

On May 5, the columnist of the news website 1in.am Zhirayr Voskanyan was attacked in Yerevan’s restaurant «1896». According to the journalist, blogger Mika Badalyan, known for his pro-Russian views, accompanied by a group of people approached him, insulted him, and provoked a scuffle. The reason for this behaviour was one of Voskanyan’s comments about Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, who recently led protests against the Pashinyan government. When the website columnist approached nearby police officers, they didn’t react, while people from Mika Badalyan’s group beat the journalist and took away his phone. Voskanyan filed a complaint with the police on the offence, and a criminal case was opened. Nine journalistic organisations issued a condemning statement on the incident. In the following days, Badalyan, being on the wanted list, wrote threatening and insulting posts addressed to Zhirayr Voskanyan in social networks.