"Reporters Without Borders" condemns search by police of the Yerevan  Today office 

ArmInfo. The international  non- governmental human rights organization Reporters Without Borders  (RSF) issued a statement condemning the September 17 search by  Armenian law enforcement bodies in the office of the Armenian  information portal Yerevan.Today.  The statement published on the  website of RSF stresses that the searches violated the  confidentiality of journalists' sources.

"The search of Yerevan.Today's premises and the seizure of its  equipment constitute grave violations of the principle of the  protection of journalists' sources, which is guaranteed by Armenian  legislation and the European Court of Human Rights," said Johann  Bihr, the head of RSF's Eastern Europe and Central Asia desk. "We  regret that the police did not seek a less intrusive and more  proportionate way to achieve their legitimate goal."

RSF also reminds that Armenia is ranked 80th out of 180 countries in  RSF's 2018 World Press Freedom Index.

The police removed some of Yerevan.Today's computer equipment during  the search, which lasted seven hours and temporarily stopped the site  from operating. They also searched the home of its editor, The  authorities insisted that the searches had "nothing to do with the  journalistic activities" of Yerevan.Today  and were carried out as  part of an investigation into the origin of a secretly-recorded phone  conversation between two top security officials, which the Armenian  media published last week.  In the recording, National Security  Service chief Artur Vanetsyan and Special Investigative Service chief  Sasun Khachatryan were heard discussing the prosecution of former  President Robert Kocharyan and a former defense minister in  connection with the bloody crackdown on protests in 2008.

The recording suggested that they had sought and obtained the current  Prime Minister's approval before arresting the former officials.  Vanetsyan and Khachatryan recognized the recording's authenticity but  said their comments have been misinterpreted.

  The recording was widely reported in the Armenian media on 11  September after being posted on YouTube. The authorities claim that  Yerevan.Today briefly posted it online two days earlier and then  deleted it. Yerevan.Today insists that this claim stems from an  erroneous technical evaluation. Computer security experts say the  website can be right.