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Armenia’s Union of Journalists denounced MP Khachatur Sukiasyan of the ruling Civil Contract party for insulting a 5 TV reporter at Monday’s parliamentary briefing as “unacceptable.” Below is the full text of its statement.

"On November 7, during the briefing held in the parliament, deputy Khachatur Sukiasyan from the ruling Civil Contract faction, in response to Arpi Sukiasyan’s question, a journalist of the 5 TV company, which is completely within the rules of professional ethics and good conduct, violated the basic code of conduct of a deputy and a politician, thus insulting the journalist in a vulgar way. Instead of answering the articulate question addressed to him, the deputy, raising his voice and yelling, started talking about the owner of the TV company presented by the journalist, his income, and other topics that have nothing to do with the question.

5 TV company has already announced that Kh. Sukiasyan's slanderous and false statements will be processed in court.

The Union of Journalists of Armenia strongly condemns such violent attitude towards the journalist by the deputy of the National Assembly and demands the political leadership of Khachatur Sukiasyan, on behalf of the Civil Contract faction of the National Assembly and the leadership of the National Assembly, to call the deputy to order. The leadership of the National Assembly is obliged to investigate the incident in the ethics committee and oblige Khachatur Sukiasyan to apologize to the journalist and the media. The relationship between the TV company represented by the latter and the deputy can be clarified by court order. That legal process, however, has nothing to do with the unethical behavior of the deputy, which should be examined and adequately assessed in a completely different domain, preventing the repetition of such outrageous behavior by the deputies of the National Assembly with media representatives in the future. Any deputy of the National Assembly, including Khachatur Sukiasyan, may have his opinion, sympathy or dislike for any political figure, party or group, may be obsessed with real or imaginary judgments. But that does not give him, like any other ordinary deputy, the right to turn the question-and-answer session with journalists into a street skirmish.

The Union of Journalists of Armenia, considering such a behavior of a deputy as unacceptable, at the same time calls on all journalists working in the parliament, regardless of the political preferences, disagreements or contradictions of the media they represent, to be united and show partnership solidarity, not allowing any deputy, one more time, regardless of political affiliation, journalists to cross the boundaries of courtesy in relations."