Armenian journalists again facing threats for political cartoons
10:22, February 7, 2018
Marianna Grigoryan, editor-in-chief of EED-supported MediaLab, an Armenian news portal, received threats following the publication of a caricature of Armenian Defence Minister Vigen Sargsyan.
Medialab started its EED-supported cartoon project in November 2015, using cartoons as a way to comment on key political issues that concern Armenian society.
As reported by Caucasian Knot, the threats were first addressed to Grigoryan on Facebook, where a user expressed dissatisfaction with the publication of a cartoon depicting the Armenian Defence Minister Vigen Sargsyan. “Don’t you think that you have crossed the line? Be careful, if you don’t want to suffer the same fate of the French”, the user wrote, unambiguously hinting at the terrorist attack that hit the French satirical weekly magazine Charlie Hebdo in January 2015.
Later, the user deleted the comments on Facebook, but continued to intimidate Grigoryan through personal correspondence.
MediaLab’s cartoon “MoD bought flowers for 7 mln AMD at the end of December”. © MediaLab.am
The targeted cartoon depicts the Armenian Defence minister surrounded by flowers, while, in the background, a soldier with only one foot is handed a sock by a general, with the words: “This one (sock) is enough for you soldier, right?”.
Marianna Grigoryan explained that the caricature was a reaction to the purchase by Armenia’s Defence department of flower arrangements for 7 million drams (about 14,600 dollars), in late December 2017. “The cartoon wanted to show the paradoxes of Armenian reality. The whole population is called upon to chip in for the treatment of a wounded soldier, while millions of dollars are spent on incomprehensible goals,” Grigoryan said.
Armenian civil society and journalistic organisations expressed support for colleagues from Medialab.
EED grantees Media Initiative Center and Journalists for Human Rights NGO, along with other seven organisations, signed a statement issued on 31 January urging the Armenian Prosecutor General to open a criminal case and calling on the Armenian police to conduct thorough investigations to ensure the safety of MediaLab’s staff.
It is not the first time that Grigoryan has faced threats for her journalistic activity. In the summer of 2016, her car was broken into by unknown people, the day after an outdoor exhibition, while in October 2017 she received threats from a fake Facebook account. Other editors and columnists at MediaLab and their family members have faced similar intimidations.
(Read EED’s article: “Cartoons in Armenia: Not-banned but not allowed?”)
Artur Sakunts, human rights activist and head of the Vanadzor office of the Helsinki Civil Assembly (Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor Office), told Caucasian Knot that “regular threats to the media community result from impunity and the inaction of law enforcement agencies. Such threats are too serious to be ignored. This is nothing else but pressure on freedom of speech.”
EED expresses solidarity and support to Marianna Grigoryan and MediaLab and hope that Armenian authorities will investigate this case and fulfil their duty to protect the safety of citizens and journalists in Armenia.