Edik Baghdasaryan
Encyclopedia
Edik Baghdasaryan is a prominent investigative journalist known for his stories exposing government corruption in Armenia
Corruption in Armenia
Political corruption in Armenia is a widespread and growing problem in Armenian society. The United Nations Development Programme in Armenia views corruption in Armenia as "a serious challenge to its development."- Corruption levels :...

. He is the head of the Armenian Association of Investigative Journalists and editor of Armenia's only investigative journalism newspaper, Hetq. He is based in Armenia
Armenia
Armenia , officially the Republic of Armenia , is a landlocked mountainous country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia...

's capital Yerevan
Yerevan
Yerevan is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country...

.

Awards

In September 2008, Baghdasaryan won the 2008 Global Shining Light Award at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference held in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 for his series of articles "The Minister and the Mining Sector," which revealed how Armenia's former Minister of Nature Protection Vardan Ayvazyan
Vardan Ayvazyan
Vardan Ayvazyan is the current Ecology Minister of Armenia. In September 2006, at a press conference criticizing the American Global Gold corporation, he said, "Do you know who you are defending? You are defending kikes! Go over their [company headquarters] and find out who is behind this company...

 had allocated mines (mostly for gold and poly-metallic) to more than a dozen relatives' names, thus violating several laws.

Physical assaults and death threats

On November 17, 2008, Baghdasaryan became the target of a violent attack, which he believes is connected with his reporting. He was ambushed and beaten by three unknown assailants as he was getting into his parked car shortly after leaving his office in downtown Yerevan at 8 pm. Baghdasaryan said that the attack was unprovoked and that the assailants did not demand anything particular from him. Two people attacked him, dealing heavy blows to him, while a third person hit him behind the head with a large object, causing him to faint; they took off part of his clothing, leaving him half naked. The assailants fled after a security worker from a nearby construction site alerted by the quarrel fired a shot into the air. Baghdasaryan was hospitalized and suffered a head injury.

In 2006, Baghdasaryan received threats via email following an article that criticized Armenia’s most powerful businessman Gagik Tsarukyan. The email threatened to kill anyone who offended Tsarukyan, whom the letter writer referred to as "king."

Notable articles

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