Anahit Simonyan

Affiliated media: Asparez.am, Journalist

Incident date: February 27, 2017

Attack type:

• Damage to / seizure of property, vehicles, equipment, documents, journalistic materials, print media circulation

Who attacked: Non-authorities

Source: Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression

Location: Armenia, Shirak

Additional information:

The journalist Anahit Simonyan came to court to cover the a criminal case of stabbing, which took place during a demonstration organized by “Founding Parliament” in Gyumri on March 28, 2015. During the court session, the journalist tried to take a photo of the aggrieved Hrachik Mirzoyan, but one of the people in the courtroom urged the journalist not to cover the trial, and after being rejected, the person seized the camera and left. According to the official data by the prosecutor’s office, the person returned the camera to the journalist only after the court bailiffs intervened. In relation to this case on March 6, the prosecutor’s office in Shirak province filed a criminal case. Karen Sargsyan, who impeded the work of the journalist, was charged under Article 164(1) of Armenia's Criminal Code