Cases of repressions against mass media outlets were recorded during the campaigns for the snap parliamentary elections held in December 2018. This is stated in the “Human Rights in Armenia in 2018” Annual Report of Helsinki Committee of Armenia NGO

“On December 7, two days prior to the snap elections, clearly abusing his official powers, a representative of the Directorate-General of the Criminal Investigations of the RoA Police committed an unlawful act in the office of the editorial board of the News.am news website. Law enforcement officers demanded that the media outlet submit evidence that would prove the content of an online speech of a politician. Their actions constituted a clear violation of the media outlets’ operation rights and of freedom of speech,” the Report states.

The Report also states that on November 20, a similar unjustified demand was presented also to the editorial board of Aysor.am, when policemen visited the office and demanded a copy of a videotaped interview of businesswoman Silva Hambardzumyan.

According to the Report, on the whole, in 2018, registered were 21 incidents of physical violence against reporters and cameramen, 67 incidents of pressure brought to bear on media outlets and their staff and 98 incidents of violation of the right to receive and disseminate information.