More than 160 representatives of Armenian media demand that parliament speaker give political assessment of MP’S bad behavior

YEREVAN, December 21. / ARKA /. More than 160 representatives of the Armenian media community have undersigned a letter to National Assembly speaker Hovik Abrahamyan, demanding that he give a political assessment of the bad behavior of an MP from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia, Mher Sedrakyan, who  has become embroiled in a  scandal after threatening to ‘break the jaw’ of  a journalist who asked him for comment.

 

The incident happened after Mher Arshakian, a journalist with the independent TV station A1+, approached Mher Sedrakian in the National Assembly on Wednesday. Video of the incident released by A1+ shows Sedrakian threatening to “break the jaw” of the journalist and telling him to “get the hell out.” 

The video triggered a media uproar. Deputy parliament speaker Eduard Sharmazanov and several other senior members of the Republican Party apologized quickly to the journalist for the incident.

The letter, which has already been sent to the National Assembly, cites numerous occasions, when members of Armenian parliament, "to say the least, behaved inappropriately with journalists."

"The incident with Mher Sedrakyan is just a recent example which is the last straw. In our work we have to often associate with MPs who do not know the rules of simple human communication,” the letter says. It calls on law-enforcement authorities to make an investigation.

"We do not expect condemning statements; we do not expect expressions of deep regret. We demand a political assessment of what happened and your assurances as parliamentary speaker, that no such incident will remain without consequences. We also demand that Mher Sedrakian apologize publicly to the journalist for his behavior", the letter says.  -0-