The Division of the Media into 'Insiders and Outsiders' is Condemnable: Sardaryan to Safaryan

Obstructing the professional activities of journalists is a criminally punishable act, stated a statement from the Independent Journalists' Trade Union's board.

“Yesterday, Styopa Safaryan issued a statement announcing that today, October 29, there would be a discussion titled ‘Twenty Years After October 27: Reflections on the Past and Lessons’ at the Armenian Institute of International and Security Affairs (AIISA). However, in the text of the announcement and during subsequent discussions, Mr. Safaryan stated that several media outlets would be prohibited from covering the event, and journalists and operators would be expelled if they attempted to enter, as Mr. Safaryan described them as ‘propaganda outlets’.

In our view, this tendency to divide the media into ‘insiders and outsiders’ is deeply condemnable and does not fit within the declared principles of democracy and freedom of speech.

Moreover, such behavior can be interpreted as a call for intolerance towards dissent, which is fundamentally no different from ‘hate speech’. In conclusion of our concerns, we would like to remind once again that obstructing the professional activities of journalists is a criminally punishable act, and we call on all social and political organizations and figures to refrain from yielding to the temptation of limiting journalists’ freedom to obtain and disseminate information,” the statement reads.