YEREVAN (RFE/RL) — Armenian Minister of High-Tech Industry Hakob Arshakyan has apologized to the public that witnessed his brawl with a journalist in a cafe, saying he is ready to bear responsibility for his behavior.
CCTV footage appeared on social media on the evening of Thursday, March 18, showing Arshakyan approaching Paylak Fahradyan, chief editor of the Irakanum.am news website, who was sitting at a table in one of Yerevan cafes, and hitting him in the face in the presence of at least five other customers, including the journalist’s colleague.
Another video showed that some time before that the journalist approached the minister, who was having a lunch at another table downstairs, and talked to him for about a minute recording the conversation on his telephone.
Fahradian later said he had asked why the minister was having his lunch at a café during working hours when he was supposed to be at work.
As seen on the video, Fahradyan then left, going to his table upstairs. Minutes later Arshakyan followed him upstairs where the incident took place.
The journalist said he was injured in the attack and his notebook was damaged. He claimed the minister also threatened him before the attack.
