‘You will write your materials like that standing from now on’ - Alen Simonyan to reporter

Yesterday, several operators were sitting in the corridor adjacent to the National Assembly hall, engrossed in their phones, when the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, passed by. Apparently, he disapproved of the position of the operators sitting with their legs crossed, and after passing, he turned back, took a picture of the operators with his phone, and left. This was reported by Aravot.am.

Minutes later, on his instructions, National Assembly staff came to the corridor and started removing the chairs where journalists and media representatives sit. When journalists inquired from the National Assembly President’s office about what was happening and why the chairs were being taken away, we were told that the operators had been sitting disrespectfully.

The situation was so unclear and incomprehensible that we tried to meet with the President of the National Assembly to clarify what we, as journalists, had done and why we were forced to stand and write our materials while deprived of the basic working condition of a chair.

Alen Simonyan's reasoning was as follows: when operators or journalists see a Member of Parliament, they should stand up. According to him, this is how we should respect the institution. As an example, he mentioned that if he were walking through the corridor with the President of Cyprus, it would be a different matter. In addition, Alen Simonyan had managed to read a Facebook post by a journalist from Aravot after issuing his instruction to remove the chairs, along with the insulting comments underneath, and he started to argue, asking how the journalist had written that status so quickly, sitting down. The journalist replied that he was standing. Simonyan retorted, ‘Well, you will write your materials like that standing from now on.’

The spokesperson for the President of the National Assembly issued a statement that the operators had exhibited disrespectful behavior. However, it turned out that they had simply been sitting in their chairs with their legs crossed and had not stood up. According to the spokesperson, the operator who exhibited such behavior had apologized, while the operator had said, ‘I’m sorry if you’re referring to me; I was busy with my phone and didn’t notice who had passed.’

After that brief meeting, we inquired whether we should bring ‘seat cushions’ to the National Assembly next time so we could sit on them, or whether the chairs would be returned after all. Alen Simonyan replied that he would decide that later. Journalists had to work sitting on the floor of the National Assembly corridor, bearing this peculiar ‘punishment’ that is not stipulated by any legal act. Although it is absolutely not too late to make a new decision that from now on, when journalists see a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly area, they should stand on one leg as a sign of absolute respect, lower their heads, and raise their gaze only when the member has entered their office.

Note: By the end of the day, the chairs were returned to their place.