Narine Avetisyan, executive director of “Lori” TV Company and member of the Journalists’ Union of Armenia, has twice been intimidated (in April, 2005, and in February, 2006) while committing her duty of a journalist.

The Journalists’ Union of Armenian, the Yerevan Press Club and the Committee Protecting Speech Freedom made a joint announcement in which it is said;

“The indifference of local law enforcing bodies to the first two events paved a way for a new violence. On May 16, 2006, unknown people threw stones at Narine Avetisyan’s car. Several days have passed but the investigation has given no result. We wonder whether the local authorities don’t want or are unable to reveal the case. Otherwise, what factor is their indifference determined by if we take into consideration the fact that one and the same journalist has been subjected to intimidation three times within a year whereas the people responsible for the assault are not identified yet? We remind the authorities of Lori and Vanadzor that the violation of a journalist’s activity is considered a crime (Article 164 of RA Criminal Code) and demand legal bodies to hold objective investigation of this and previous facts, punish the real criminals preventing the further violations.”