«A1+» TV COMPANY CLOSING – EVIDENCE OF UNFREE PRESS

A1plus

| 15:27:10 | 03-05-2005 | Politics |

May 3 is the Day of Freedom of Press. According to the data provided
by the Committee to Protect Journalists, 56 journalists were killed,
124 detained and 19 missing in 2004.

The Day of Freedom of Press has been marked in Armenia for already 12
years under the aegis of the UN. This year the subject of the event
was «Mass Media and Efficient Management».

Are mass media free in Armenia at present? This year Freedom House
rated press in Armenia as «Not Free». In this view the Yerevan Press
Club reminds of continuing violence against journalists and media.

Head of the Yerevan Press Club Boris Navasardyan is concerned over the
fact that «A1+» TV Company is still without air despite numerous
claims of the local and international organizations. Two regulating
bodies – the National Commission on TV and Radio and the Council of
Armenian Public Television and Radio Company – are controlled by
the executive power and consequently depend on it. B. Navasardyan
is convinced that this fact inevitably causes the dependence of
broadcasting media.

–Boundary_(ID_rF6v/taPlYtqNNU6AgAdhg)–