YEREVAN. - The freedom of expression has undergone regress in the first quarter of this year, which included the parliamentary and Yerevan City Council elections.

Chairman of the Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression (CPFE) Ashot Melikyan told the aforementioned to journalists on Wednesday, Radio Liberty reports.

According to the CPFE report, growth has been recorded in terms of physical violence: if three cases of physical violence were registered last year, their number has grown to eight in 2017.

“The number of pressures and various obstacles was 30 in the first quarter of 2016 and 89 in the first quarter of 2017. We see that this is nearly a three-time growth. These figures come to once again prove that pressures and obstacles against journalists and media outlets are growing among us,”Melikyan said.

Pursuant to the aforementioned report, during the electoral phrase this year the violence and pressures against journalists were unprecedented even as compared to the 2015 Constitutional referendum and the 2013 presidential election.

In Melikyan’s words, during the recent two elections, journalists were targeted for disclosing violations.