Shushan Petrosyan unaware of attack on A1+ journalist
“People working in different sectors should feel protected there. I am against all types of torture but I shall never raise any question about domestic torture in foreign countries as it will stain the reputation of my country,” Armenian lawmaker Shushan Petrosyan said today. On June 13, she is due to leave for Kiev with several other MPs to participate in a conference on raising journalists’ awareness on safety and security issues. Shushan Petrosyan says she is ready to defend journalists’ rights and raise their problems and concerns here, in Armenia. It is due to mention that the lawmaker was unaware of last year’s attack on Marine Khachatryan, a journalist working with A1+ Company. “I was in Artsakh in September and I do not know anything about the assault,” she said. On September 9, 2014, after members of the Hakaharvats (Counter Attack) street art group hung a banner reading “Hello Rob” (Rob referring to Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan) on the National Assembly’s main gate, the chief of the NA security Karen Hayrapetyan came out and tore down the banner. Then he hit A1+’s journalist Marine Khachatryan, who was covering the incident, on the arm, causing her to drop her recording device – iPad – to the ground.
