Since April 19, marches and rallies have been taking place in Armenia against the delimitation of the border with Azerbaijan and territorial concessions with the transfer of four villages in the Tavush region. Several journalists covering the protests were attacked by police, international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

Thus, on April 23, a police officer threw Garik Melkonyan, a reporter for the independent newspaper Arabot.am, to the ground. On April 27, in the province of Tavush, the operator of the news site Newday.am Janibek Khachatryan was roughly detained.
On April 29, Ani Nerkararyan, an employee of the opposition media outlet Oragir News, suffered a leg injury after being hit by a security officer during a demonstration in Lori province. On May 13, in Yerevan, a police officer pushed Mher Davtyan, a video correspondent for the opposition media outlet ABCmedia.am, off the steps. At the same time, Nare Gevorkyan, a journalist with a Mediahub.am microphone, was hit by a police van. 

“Against the backdrop of the historical conflict with Azerbaijan, the way police forces enforce law and order during the protests is exacerbating the feelings of insecurity for journalists covering them. They are sometimes attacked and regularly harassed on the street by politicians who are supposed to be defending press freedom. RSF calls on the Armenian authorities to immediately put an end to this violence and fight impunity,” it said. Jeanne Cavelier, head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia department at RSF.

Today, according to the organization, Armenia ranks 43rd out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index. This is happening against the backdrop of public dissatisfaction with the post-war agreement with Azerbaijan following the Karabakh war.