Minister of High-Tech Industry leaves his post after the incident with journalist
Minister of High-Tech Industry Hakob Arshakyan announced on Facebook that March 31 is his last working day as a cabinet member. As Arshakyan explained, as a citizen of the Republic of Armenia he deems unacceptable using violence against another citizen as the country has chosen a path of having a society without violence.
Arshakyan's decision came after the recent incident at a Yerevan cafe, where the minister was caught on camera attacking journalist Paylak Fakhradyan. CCTV footage from the cafe showed Arshakyan punching the journalist and throwing the latter's computer to the ground. The assaul came reportedly after the reporter approached the minister and asked why he was spending his working hours in a cafe.
"As a high level official, a person representing the Republic of Armenia on international arena, I am obliged to serve the public with own example. With this, I express my intolerance to violence, both physical and physiological. I hope, what happened will serve a lesson for our public, and we will become a bit friendlier to each other as well as respect the right of each of us to a to private and family life," Arshakyan wrote.
To note, Hakob Arshakyan has served in the the post of the Minister of High-Tech Industry since June 2019.