‘Not registering a journalist is an unlawful decision and must be annulled’, MP addresses the Speaker of the National Assembly

Ani Samsonyan, a member of the Bright Armenia faction, has addressed the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan, regarding the need to ensure the unhindered operation of media outlets and to protect journalists from illegal interventions and arbitrariness by parliament members. The MP announced this on her Facebook page.

On January 26 of this year, the staff of the National Assembly prohibited a journalist from the ‘Yerevan Today’ media outlet from entering the National Assembly. Journalist Syuzan Badoyan was issued a pass via a letter from a parliament member to conduct an interview with the latter, as the NA staff had refused to register the journalist following an incident involving ‘My Step’ MP Haik Sarksyan.

According to the law on mass media, those engaged in media activities and journalists operate freely based on the principles of equality, legality, freedom of expression, and diversity of opinion. It is prohibited to obstruct a journalist's legitimate professional activities. Also, it is stipulated that the working conditions for all accredited journalists in any body must be conducive to their work and non-discriminatory within reasonable limits.

The professional activities of journalists also have international legal protections, which create obligations for state bodies. Article 6 of the Media Law clearly states that a journalist's accreditation can be terminated only at the request of the media organization that submitted the accreditation. I would also like to point out that the procedure for accrediting journalists in state bodies only involves technical requirements for accrediting legal entities engaged in media activities, and there are no criteria specified for refusing or confirming journalists’ accreditation, nor can there be.

Therefore, the decision to not register the journalist presented by the media outlet is unlawful and should be annulled. I am calling upon the Speaker of the National Assembly, Ararat Mirzoyan, to ensure the unhindered operation of media outlets and to protect journalists' work from illegal interventions and arbitrariness caused by the discriminatory and whimsical attitudes of parliament members. I have also addressed the Speaker of the NA in writing,” wrote Samsonyan.