YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
MARCH 11-17, 2005
HIGHLIGHTS:
SIXTEENTH “PRESS CLUB” SHOW
THERE WILL BE NO TRIAL: “HAYRENIK TV” PAID THE FINE
CPJ REPORT ON ATTACKS ON THE PRESS IN 2004: MORE OF DEATHS, LESS OF FREEDOM
SIXTEENTH “PRESS CLUB” SHOW
On March 14 on the evening air of the Second Armenian TV Channel the
sixteenth “Press Club show was issued. The cycle is organized by Yerevan
Press Club under a homonymous project, supported by the OSI Network Media
Program.
The heads of leading media, non-governmental, also journalistic
organizations of Armenia discussed in the context of the elections to the
local government bodies to be held in Armenia the parliamentary elections in
Moldova as well as the future of interstate unions GUUAM and CIS. The “Press
Club” participants expect the media to focus this week on the draft
amendments to the Constitution and Electoral Code, the visit of RA Minister
of Foreign Affairs Vardan Oskanian to headquarters of some international
organizations as well as the offer the US authorities made to Iran to give
up the development of nuclear weapons.
THERE WILL BE NO TRIAL: “HAYRENIK TV” PAID THE FINE
The hearings on the suit of the National Commission on Television and Radio
versus “Hayrenik TV” company, scheduled for March 15 at the RA Commercial
Court, were not held. NCTR demanded TV company to pay a fine. As YPC was
told at NCTR, “Hayrenik TV” paid the fine on March 3, after which the suit
was revoked. On February 15 the National Commission had filed a suit because
of the expiry of the deadline, legally stipulated for paying fine (see YPC
Weekly Newsletter, February 11-17, 2005). The sanction was imposed on
“Hayrenik TV” by the National Commission on January 18 for rebroadcasting
the programs of the French “Mezzo” TV channel and the demonstration of
unlicensed films.
CPJ REPORT ON ATTACKS ON THE PRESS IN 2004: MORE OF DEATHS, LESS OF FREEDOM
On March 14 the Committee to Protect Journalists released its annual
worldwide report “Attacks on the Press in 2004”.
The last year, CPJ stresses, is characterized by several alarming trends. In
particular, in 2004 the greatest number of journalists killed was recorded –
56, of which 36 were murdered. Only in 9 cases were the criminals punished.
Iraq was the most dangerous place for the representatives of the “fourth
estate”, with 23 journalists killed in the line of duty. Of the 122
imprisoned journalists in 2004 74 were charged with “antistate activities”:
everywhere, from China to Cuba, they were accused of sedition, subversion,
divulging state secrets and working against the interests of the state.
Attention was also drawn to a case from the USA, where for the first time in
three years a media representative was punished for the refusal to identify
the source. The reporter of WJAR-TV (Providence, RI) Jim Taricani was
sentenced to six months of home confinement.
As a positive precedent for the decriminalization of libel and insult and
therefore, for the strengthening of guarantees of the freedom of expression,
the decision of Inter-American Court of Human Rights to overturn the
criminal defamation conviction of a Costa Rican reporter was mentioned.
As to the post-Soviet countries, in the opinion of CPJ, press conditions are
deteriorating badly throughout Russia and most of the other former Soviet
Republics, except Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, where strong press freedom
traditions have been established. “Developments in Ukraine offer hope, but
elsewhere the press operates with less freedom than it did in the closing
years of Soviet communism”, the report stresses.
In the section of the report on Armenia it is noted that the government
failed to protect journalists during the demonstrations in April, and “in
some cases, authorities were directly involved in attacks on the press”.
Among the specific examples of attacks on press the report lists the events
of April 5 and April 13, 2004. “The impunity surrounding these attacks made
journalists more vulnerable”, CPJ thinks, illustrating this point by another
case of violence against the photojournalist on August 24, 2004 in
Tsaghkadzor.
Speaking of the broadcast media, the CPJ experts noted that “television
coverage of the spring opposition rallies and other politically sensitive
issues favored” RA President Robert Kocharian, “who ensured that TV stations
remained in the hands of government supporters or those who would not
criticize his policies”. The report also tells about the situation and
developments with regard to deprivation of “A1+” of air – “an independent
and influential TV station that has sharply criticized government policies”.
“Unlike television, the print media enjoy greater autonomy from government
control, but most publications are controlled by political parties and
wealthy businessmen, compromising their editorial independence and
professional standards”, the report says.
CPJ also pays attention to the continuing negligence of Armenian authorities
towards the appeals of journalistic associations, Council of Europe and OSCE
on decriminalization of libel and insult.
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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress