Pro-western NGOs call for holdingMP responsible for insulting  journalist 

ArmInfo.A number of pro-Western journalistic NGOs have called for disciplinary action against Hovik  Agazaryan, a member of the Armenian parliament from the ruling Civil Contract faction, for insulting Knar Manukyan, a journalist from the Armlur.am website.

In a statement received by ArmInfo, the NGOs recalled that earlier,  when National Assembly member Agazaryan collided with a journalist  from the Zhoghovurd newspaper accredited in the parliament, he  insulted her, accusing her of distorting his words given in an  interview.

The NGOs note that, according to the journalist, the MP called her a  "scoundrel" and "disgusting", uttering words of hatred: "Persian, you  are worse than a Persian woman." The NGOs admitted that they find it  difficult to say what the MP meant by these statements and emphasized  that representatives of other media witnessed the incident.

Journalistic organizations condemned such behavior by the deputy from  the ruling faction, emphasizing that this is not the first case of  disrespect and insults from the National Assembly deputies towards  journalists.

"This is a serious issue that should be the subject of a  comprehensive discussion in the parliamentary ethics committee, the  creation and activities of which, for unknown reasons, are not  becoming a reality," the NGO said in a statement. At the same time,  the journalistic organizations demanded that MP Hovik Agazaryan  publicly apologize to journalist Knar Manukyan and guarantee that he  will not allow disrespectful treatment of media representatives in  the future. In addition, they called on the Civil Contract faction to  assess Hovik Agazaryan's behavior and inform the public about it.

"We expect the parliament's leadership to take measures to relieve  tensions in relations between the MP and the journalist, as well as  to investigate the conflicts that arise and develop conclusions in  the ethics commission," the statement reads. The statement was signed  by the Committee for the Protection of Freedom of Speech, the Yerevan  Press Club, the Media Initiatives Center, the Institute for Media  Diversity, the Public Journalism Club, the Journalists for the Future  public organization, Journalists for Human Rights, and the Goris  Press Club NGO.

In 2023, a number of journalistic organizations issued a statement  condemning the fact that parliamentary journalist Knar Manukyan was  stripped of her accreditation. "Indeed, this conflict between the  parties is not new, and it began on March 21, when the same media  correspondent filmed security forces waiting for an order to calm the  tense situation in the meeting room. Later, this material was  published on the website "Armlur.am" owned by the daily newspaper and  became the reason for presenting the editorial board with the first  warning.

Then the dissatisfaction of the NA apparatus was caused by the fact  that the journalist carried out his activities not in a specially  designated place for media representatives in the NA residence, but  in an officially "prohibited zone". In addition, according to the  letter of the headquarters, Knar Manukyan "carried out professional  activities without the consent of the deputy, continued to harass and  raise slanderous and offensive questions," the statement said.