January 16, 2026, Yerevan

On January 16, 2026, Knar Manukyan and Sona Grigoryan, editors of Zhoghovurd daily and Armlur.am news website, were removed from the National Assembly building following an order by the NA Chief of Staff, with security service officers involved in the process. The journalists had entered the parliament using a pass issued by NA Deputy Gegham Manukyan to cover a session of the Standing Committee on Defense and Security, which, according to the official justification, they were not authorized to do.

It should be recalled that on December 25, 2025, Knar Manukyan and Sona Grigoryan were stripped of their accreditation at the National Assembly – a decision whose underlying reasons were, at best, controversial, while the creation of hasty and formal grounds for it was unacceptable, including from a legal perspective. Notably, Knar Manukyan is being stripped of the NA accreditation for the second time: the same scenario played out on December 15, 2023, in response to which journalistic organizations issued a statement, while the court of first instance later recognized the NA staff’s decision as unlawful.

We, the undersigned journalistic organizations, state that the processes currently taking place in the parliament run contrary to the guarantees of freedom of expression and media activities enshrined in the RA Constitution, the RA Law “On Mass Communication,” as well as a range of international documents ratified by Armenia.

All references by the NA leadership to the procedure for accrediting journalists in parliament cannot be considered convincing, given the document’s multiple deficiencies, including contradictions with the legislation. Specifically, according to Article 4 (3.2), “any coercive act against media workers and journalists aimed at or leading to the dissemination of any information or the refusal to do so” is prohibited. In addition, the law does not prohibit journalists who lack accreditation from receiving a pass from any deputy and reporting on the activities of that state body. Despite this, the approach taken by the NA leadership does not align with the spirit of the aforementioned law.

In our previous statements, we have repeatedly highlighted and we reiterate now that an unhealthy and conflictual atmosphere has developed between deputies and journalists in the National Assembly. Facts indicate that due to these strained relations, journalists of opposition media experience major difficulties in interacting with representatives of the ruling force, while journalists of media associated with the authorities encounter similar challenges when interacting with opposition figures. It is clear that this situation is also a consequence of the severe polarization within the media field and the serving of political interests. However, the National Assembly has so far taken no practical measures to remedy the situation, despite our long-standing offers of support in this regard.

Based on the above, we demand from the leadership of the National Assembly:

• to revoke the controversial decision to strip Knar Manukyan and Sona Grigoryan of their accreditation and to allow them to continue their professional activities in parliament,
• to demonstrate the utmost tolerance and political circumspection, to reassess its relations with journalists and to amend the procedure for their accreditation and activities in parliament, aligning it with the RA legislation and international norms,
• to initiate discussions aimed at developing a code of conduct regulating the relations between parliament-accredited journalists and deputies, and establishing a body responsible for overseeing the implementation of its requirements.

COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION
YEREVAN PRESS CLUB
MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER
MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA
PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB
“JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO
“JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO