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The recent clashes between the law enforcement and citizens in Ijevan revealed how frightened the authorities of Armenia are, Satik Seyranyan, the Chairwoman of the Union of Journalists of Armenia told at a round table discussion titled “Violence and Hate Speech.” During the discussion organized by the Media Advocate initiative, Seyranyan suggested the disarray shown by the responsible state bodies was explicitly expressed especially in media and on social media platforms.

“First, wide-spread profanity, then calls for violence, propagation of hate speech followed. The strategy has changed a bit today. Some MPs make use of the practice to appeal to courts, filing defamation and slander lawsuits. The strategy is designed to harm the media. Why media? The media acts as the opposition in these days. They [authorities] say we are the good ones yet the media discredit us. This was the case previously with a bit different lexicon,” Seyranyan said, presenting what she named to be the ongoing pressures on the media and the press.

She predicted the media will be attacked even more in autumn when the political processes are active. “Nikol Pashinyan will be the first responsible person for this since we never saw him condemning the practice, quite the opposite,” the head of the Union of Journalists said.