"Zhoghovurd" daily writes:
"Nikol Pashinyan, who came to power with the slogans of freedom of speech, free activity of journalists and protection of democratic values, today, for raising an unwanted question, he deprives journalists of the right to enter the National Assembly. It is obvious that what happened is a political reprisal against the media. The subject of the problem are the questions raised by the journalists, which were unwanted for the CP faction leader Hayk Konjoryan.
And in order to prevent such "unwanted" questions in the future, he wrote an appeal to Davit Arakelyan, head of the NA staff. The latter, in order to ensure an imitation of legal procedures, essentially suggested how to formulate the application so that it is possible to deprive the journalists of accreditation, as a result of which, in 2 days, both a warning and a deprivation decision are made. Naturally, this entire process took place under the direct leadership and agreement of the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan. Chronology of crimes On December 3, when once again the NA CP faction failed to secure a quorum, ArmLur.am journalist Sona Grigoryan approached the head of the CP faction Hayk Konjoryan and asked the question: "Why is the CP unable to ensure the participation of CP deputies in the sessions?" Konjoryan wished the journalist a "good day" with a smile and left without commenting. The next day, on December 4, a short article was published that Hayk Konjoryan and Artur Hovhannisyan, the secretary of the CP faction, are disrupting the sessions of the National Assembly for the fourth time in the presence of Nikol Pashinyan. There has been no response or action since that publication.
However, on December 16, Hayk Konjoryan appealed to the NA staff, stating that on December 3, around 12:30, Sona Grigoryan approached him, asked for a comment, he refused, and the next day an article was published. In other words, former journalist Hayk Konjoryan actually complained that the journalist exercised his professional right without prior agreement with him. This is a new standard of "democracy". However, the KP deputy did not limit himself to that. On December 16, when the journalists of "Zhoghovurd daily" and ArmLur.am inquired about Konjoryan's expensive mansion acquired by manipulative tricks, the deputy showed unbridled anger and immediately wrote an application, demanding to ban the entry of journalists to the territory of the National Assembly.
Legal absurdity with the participation of the NA staff Davit Arakelyan, head of the NA staff, under the pretext of "maintaining" the letter of the law, made blatantly illegal and absurd decisions. On December 17, Sona Grigoryan was warned that on December 3, outside the designated place, she asked a question to Hayk Konjoryan and published material.
Two days later, based on the same deputy's letter, he was deprived of accreditation. The decision states that on December 16, between 12:52 and 12:55, Sona Grigoryan and Knar Manukyan approached Konjoryan, the latter refused to give an interview, after which the journalists continued their professional activities up to the door of his office. The deputy, not observing any norms of ethics, "slammed" the door in the journalists' face. In other words, in order to exercise their constitutional and professional right to ask questions and receive information, journalists were deprived of NA accreditation and, in fact, the right to enter the National Assembly.
In the case of Knar Manukyan, Davit Arakelyan committed a double illegality. On December 18, he received a letter, according to which he continued his journalistic activities on December 16, moving to Hayk Konjoryan's office with the camera turned on.
Meanwhile, Knar Manukyan received verbal permission in advance from the National Security Agency security officer and moved in the permitted direction. This circumstance was also recorded by cameras. Despite this, Davit Arakelyan issued a warning to the journalist for the same act within two days, on December 18, and the next day, on December 19, he was deprived of accreditation. Conclusion This is not a disciplinary process, but an open political retaliation against independent journalism. This is a gross violation of freedom of speech, carried out by the top leadership of the National Assembly.
Alen Simonyan, Hayk Konjoryan and Davit Arakelyan, by their actions, turned the National Assembly into a closed structure, afraid of journalists, where asking questions is punished, and the inaction and failures of the government representatives are hidden by administrative violence.
These people not only do not have the moral right to speak about democracy, but also prove by their actions that they are ready to drown out any voice that dares to ask, inquire and reveal the truth.
