"Eye for an Eye" calls Armenian Prime Minister`s behavior toward  cultural figures unacceptable, pointing to an attempt to impose  censorship

ArmInfo.  The "Eye for an Eye" community of Armenian documentary filmmakers, photographers, writers, and artists has deemed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's behavior towards the country's cultural figures as unacceptable and unethical. They have condemned such behavior, considering it an attempt to impose censorship on the issues raised during the performance of "Fence" on September 14.

According to the documentary filmmakers' community, the play "Fence"  was based on Stepan Zoryan's short story of the same name. The story  revolves around neighbors Minas and Tevos quarreling over who owns a  fence while the enemy is seizing their homes. Following the  performance, the Armenian Prime Minister asked for a presentation on  its essence, and, dissatisfied with the response, began  imposing his  own vision of what it should have been.

The "Eye for an Eye" community considered this behavior unacceptable,  given that Pashinyan is the center of public attention in Armenia.  Moreover, as "Eye for an Eye" pointed out, the Armenian Prime  Minister not only filmed but then edited the actors' responses to  suit his own tastes, creating the false impression that they agreed  with his comments. This, the community noted, turned the public  against the play's creators.

"We also condemn the artificial gesture of support by pro-government  MPs for the actors, seemingly defending defend them, while  actually  being used as tools to attack their political opponents," the  documentary community added.

In this regard, "Eye for an Eye" decided to remind everyone that  anyone who supports an artist would also support their creative  freedom. The statement further condemns Nikol Pashinyan's  interference in the creative community and his misuse of his official  position to discredit the performance.

Furthermore, as the community noted,  a person who truly supports the  arts would support the National Experimental Performing Arts Center  "Goy Theater," which was unjustly dissolved, and would support  filmmakers whose freedom of speech was violated by the approved  Regulation on Film Funds and the unacceptable changes to the film  law. "Anyone who supports the artist would also condemn Nikol  Pashinyan's anti-democratic aesthetics (Pashinyan's "Real Armenia"  ideology - ed.), which is driving creators into a corner. Someone who  supports the artist would support the art groups and artists of  Artsakh, and instead of organizing concerts for Snoop Dogg or  Jennifer Lopez, would solve their issues. Moreover, anyone who  supports the creators would not have illegally transferred Artsakh's  cultural structures to Azerbaijan, without the knowledge or consent  of the people, secretly and criminally," the community emphasized.

In light of the above, "Eye for an Eye" called on all citizens,  cultural figures, human rights activists, and journalists concerned  about this incident to view the situation with the "Fence"  performance as a case of interference with artistic freedom. "By  cunningly exerting psychological pressure on the actors, they  achieved the desired political result: discrediting the performance  and causing self-censorship among the creators. We urge cultural  figures to be free. We must heed Zoryan's message and prevent  Pashinyan's divisive actions from achieving their goal," the  documentary filmmakers' community concluded.