In the case of Hayk Grigoryan v. Armenia the Court held that there had been a violation of freedom of expression.

The case concerned an incident in which the applicant, at that time a freelance journalist, was covering a demonstration in Yerevan in 2016 when he was allegedly grabbed by police officers, hit, and had his mobile telephone and camera seized. The protests followed the storming of the premises of the Patrol Service Regiment of the Armenian Police. The police returned the camera to the applicant with the footage of the police reaction to the protests allegedly deleted.

The Court found the assault on the applicant and seizure of his camera by the police while he had been working had neither been lawful nor had a legitimate aim.

• Press release