“This campaign had begun earlier but gained momentum when accusations were leveled against the media outlet by some high-ranking officials and their supporting circles,” the nine mostly Western-funded groups said in a joint statement.
They singled out recent days’ Facebook posts by the chief of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s chief of staff, Arayik Harutiunian, deputy parliament speaker Ruben Rubinian and another senior lawmaker, Artur Hovannisian, that attacked RFE/RL’s news coverage. In particular, Harutiunian accused the media organization funded by the U.S. Congress of spreading “fake news” about him while Rubinian alleged that it is promoting not only Armenian opposition leaders but also Russia’s leading Kremlin-linked propagandists.
“This is nothing but a reprehensible attempt to interfere with editorial freedom, which neither the media outlet in question nor the journalistic community in general, regardless of political preferences, can tolerate,” read the statement. “Especially given that Azatutyun has proven through its activities that it is open to presenting opposing opinions and ideas as well as discussing and correcting its own possible shortcomings.”
Armenian officials, it said, must “stop the practice of organizing a campaign to discredit this or any other media outlet.” Such campaigns pose a threat to press freedom in the country, stressed the statement.