Arax Mamulyan

Affiliated media: Hetq.am, Journalist

Incident date: March 6, 2017

Attack type:

• Illegal impediments to journalistic activity, denial of access to information

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression

Location: Armenia, Yerevan

Additional information:

On March 6, the journalist Arax Mamulyan from “Hetq.am” was not allowed to participate in the circuit court session held in the “Inmates' hospital” penitentiary. She went to the penitentiary to cover the circuit court session on a criminal case of the murder Sedrak Zatikyan's son, former head of the Malatya district. Before the start of the court session, the journalist from “Hetq” came to the penitentiary informing authorities that she was going to cover the court case related to Narek Khachatryan. The penitentiary staff informed her that no decision had been made yet and suggested she wait. Then they informed the judge that a journalist wanted to cover the session. The judge did not object. However, when it turned out that the court session would be held in the office of Arsen Afrikyan, head of the penitentiary, and the journalist wanted to go there as well, Afrikyan’s secretary did not let her in. According to the journalist, the secretary contacted her boss again, but Afrikyan said she was forbidden to be at the court session.