Armenia`s Human Rights Defender, RA NA speaker, head of Tatoyan  foundation react to incident in Armenia`s Parliament 

ArmInfo. The rules established for the activities of journalists in parliament should not serve as a tool for limiting their rights or unnecessary interference in their  professional activities. Thus, the Ombudsman of Armenia Anahit  Manasyan responded to the incident that occurred in the Armenian  parliament on March 26, when employees of the State Security Service  (SSS) took away the poster from journalists that they were holding  during a silent protest, and then took them out of the gallery of the  parliament intended for the press.

"Journalists, while carrying out their professional activities, must  be protected from any unnecessary interference or pressure," the  Ombudsman of Armenia added.

Manasyan stated that the competent authorities are obliged to  carefully consider each case that may indicate obstruction of the  professional activities of journalists or unlawful restriction of  freedom of expression. In this regard, the human rights defender  assured that, on her instructions, a study of public materials  related to the incident will be conducted, and the necessary measures  will be taken within the framework of her authority.

The Speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Alen Simonyan also  responded to the incident in parliament. On his Telegram page, he  admitted that he witnessed the incident, but did not take any action.   Simonyan tried to justify the actions of the state security service,  claiming that they acted out of fears related to "unexpected blows on  the glass."

"When I went up to the gallery for journalists after the noise, I  should have simply asked the state security service employees to  return the poster and not interfere with the journalists holding the  action. I understand that the SSS employees saw a threat in the  unexpected sounds and blows on the glass, especially when several  high-ranking officials were in the hall - I do not want to blame  them. My mistake was that I was unable to quickly orient myself on  the spot," Simonyan said.

The speaker of parliament assured that he had a conversation with the  state security service employees to prevent similar situations in the  future. He also acknowledged that if the action does not disrupt the  normal work of the Armenian parliament, then it should not be  obstructed.

Former Ombudsman of Armenia, head of the Tatoyan Foundation Arman  Tatoyan expressed support for the journalists who organized the  action. He drew attention to the fact that the journalists' action in  the National Assembly was absolutely legal and aimed at protecting  their own rights, and the actions of the employees of the State  Security Service of the National Assembly were a blatant violation of  the rights of journalists. In this regard, the former Ombudsman of  Armenia noted that the ruling party uses the employees of the State  Security Service to protect its interests under the guise of  "security".

"The gallery of the National Assembly was initially built  specifically for journalists, and their removal from there was not  only illegal, but also an obstacle to their professional work in the  name of the political interests of the ruling Civil Contract party,"  Tatoyan summarized.

Recall that on March 26, journalists held a peaceful protest in the  Armenian parliament against the behavior of Civil Contract faction MP  Andranik Kocharyan, who had previously insulted journalist Hripsime  Jebejyan. State Security Service officers forcibly removed the  journalists from the parliament gallery and took away the poster they  were holding.