Public Television News Bypasses the 'Hammer' Topic: Statement

The Electoral Monitoring Committee has issued a statement: “The news department of Public Television did not address the responses following Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan displaying a hammer during his campaign on June 16. For several days now, Pashinyan has been showing a hammer during regional meetings, stating that it is time for a steel revolution or that this will help solve several issues in the future.

In light of this, the Human Rights Defender issued a statement deeming Pashinyan’s continuous display of the hammer unacceptable, as it could promote ideas of solving issues with a hammer.
Arman Tatoyan reminded that issuing threats against local self-governing bodies, especially mayors, is not within the scope of Pashinyan's position. The news outlet did not respond to the Human Rights Defender’s statement.

Addressing Deputy Police Chief Ara Fidanyan's press conference today, the news outlet did not present Fidanyan's remarks where he stated that the hammer is not a cold weapon and sees nothing unusual in Pashinyan's behavior. The report was presented without a Q&A session with journalists on this topic.

The Electoral Monitoring Committee notes that this is not the first instance of the news outlet manipulating the public. The outlet omits all sensitive topics from its broadcasts, attempting to hide the government’s shortcomings,” the statement reads.