From 11 to 20 June, 2019, the “Media Advocate” initiative followed online media reports on the Vice-president of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Alen Simonyan’s personality and activities.
35 leading Armenian news agencies have been monitored.
In the specified period, 231 articles were declared, 55 of which were negative and 176 were neutral.
Alen Simonyan’s actions were assessed negatively. Daniel Ioannisyan wrote that Alen Simonyan has already presented 5 senseless reasons why Daniel does not like him. The human rights defender asked a question in the post: “Why Alen Simonyan does not think over a topic that our Fact Investigation Platform (FIP.am) has examined his case because he has VIOLATED THE LAW?” It turns out that Ioannisyan, a supporter of change of power, blames Alen Simonyan, one of the most famous figures of change of power, for illegal activity. Daniel Ioannisyan’s publication has become a basis for the investigation and the Commission on Ethics of High-Ranking Officials gave a warning to Alen Simonyan. The violation, according to the CEHRO statement, is related to filling process, where Alen Simonyan has made inaccuracies.
According to the press, Alen Simonyan’s position is not so strong even in CC, and the new CC party members have started a fight against the old CC representatives: the latest CC congress and the board elections were a vivid evidence of that.
Considering the press releases and Alen Simonyan’s answers, one can conclude that there are problems within the CC political team, moreover, different forces emerged there. The proofs of it are the negative articles published by the news outlets close to the government.
