Court rejects complaint of "Yerevan Today" about search

The Armenian Court of Appeal (CoA) has found the search conducted at the editorial office of the website "Yerevan Today" legitimate. The search and the court judgement are examples of pressure on mass media, the website's advocate has stated.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on September 17, the editorial office of the "Yerevan Today" website was searched within the framework of the case about the wiretapping of telephone conversations of Arthur Vanetsyan, the Director of the National Security Service (NSS) of Armenia, with Sasun Khachatryan, the head of the country's Special Investigation Service (SIS). After the search, the work of the website was paralyzed, as investigators seized the equipment and appointed an examination. The website was partially reopened on September 18, after the editorial board purchased new computers.

The defence of the "Yerevan Today" demanded that the search of the office should be declared illegal; the consideration of complaint took place at the Armenian CoA on October 25, Armen Feroyan, an advocate, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

According to his story, the search was conducted with obvious gross violations of the law: law enforcers seized such materials, which in principle have nothing to do with the initiated criminal case. Mr Feroyan has treated these actions as pressure on the organization engaged in journalistic activities.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 26, 2018 at 01:53 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.