YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 7-13, 2005
HIGHLIGHTS:
COURT OF APPEALS SECURED THE APPEAL OF “FEMIDA” CHAIRWOMAN
“THE OTHER HALF”: ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN RADIO TEAM REPORTING PROJECT
JOURNALIST CONVICTED FOR THREE YEARS FOR ATTEMPTED CHEATING
SUBSIDIES TO PUBLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
COURT OF APPEALS SECURED THE APPEAL OF “FEMIDA” CHAIRWOMAN
On October 11 the RA Court of Appeals secured the appeal of the chairwoman
of “Femida” NGO Julietta Amirkhanian, challenging the ruling of the court of
primary jurisdiction of Center and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan of
July 25, 2005. As it has been reported, in late May Julietta Amirkhanian
addressed the court with a suit against Lia Revazian to protect honor and
dignity. The plaintiff demanded to refute the invalid and discrediting
information, contained in the letter of Lia Revazian, addressed to the
senior officials of the country, editorial offices of several media and the
mission of some international organizations. The letter, in particular,
contained insulting remarks to the address of “Datakan Alik” (“Judicial
Channel”) program, hosted by Julietta Amirkhanian on the Second Armenian TV
Channel. On July 25 the court ruled to partially secure the suit of the
“Femida” Chairwoman. The information quoted in Lia Revazian’s letter was
recognized to be invalid. However, the demand of the plaintiff – to
disseminate the prepared refutation text among the recipients of the letter
– was rejected by the court (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, August 25 –
September 1, 2005).
At the session of October 11 the Court of Appeals obliged Lia Revazian to
refute the information that discredits Julietta Amirkhanian, by sending the
refutation to all addressees of the letter that was the reason for the
litigation.
“THE OTHER HALF”: ARMENIAN-GEORGIAN RADIO TEAM REPORTING PROJECT
On October 1-10 in Armenia a team reporting project of Armenian and Georgian
radio journalists was held by London-based Media Diversity Institute. The
events was organized under “Minority Empowerment and Media Development in
South Caucasus” program, supported by the European Commission and the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The project trainers were
Lily Poberezhska and Tim Grout-Smith (Media Player International”
consultancy partnership, UK), Harutiun Mansurian (producer, Internews
Armenia), Akakiy Gogichaishvili (author and host of “60 minutes” program,
“Rustavi-2” TV Channel, Georgia), and its participants were 8
representatives of Armenian and Georgian radio stations, 4 from each
country.
During the first two days, on October 1 and 2, a seminar “Covering
Diversity: How to Make Difference” was held, during which an interactive
discussion of diversity reporting of various minorities and vulnerable
groups of society was held. The practical continuation of the seminar was
“Woman in Armenia and Georgia” radio magazine, made up of pieces that were
prepared by the participants of a team reporting project from two South
Caucasus countries. On October 10 this 25-minute radio program, titled “The
Other Half”, was heard and discussed.
JOURNALIST CONVICTED FOR THREE YEARS FOR ATTEMPTED CHEATING
On October 6 in Vanadzor the court of primary jurisdiction of Lori region
completed the trial on the case of employee of the press center of the
Armenian Writers Union, member of the Journalists Union of Armenia Theresa
Asatrian. The court convicted Theresa Asatrian to 3 years’ imprisonment and
a fine of 400,000 AMD (about $ 900) for attempted cheating (cl. 2 p. 2 Art.
34-178 of RA Criminal Code) and involvement in bribery (cl. 1 p. 3 Art.
38-312 of RA Criminal Code). As it has been reported, the hearings on the
case started on August 31 (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, August 25 – September
1, 2005). As reported in the press release of the General Prosecutor’s
Office, on May 17, 2005 Theresa Asatrian provoked the notary of Vanadzor
notary region Arusiak Azarian to give a bribe of $ 3,500 to prevent the
submission to the court of the materials against the notary gathered by the
RA National Security Service, and the publication of a revelatory article
written by the journalist herself.
SUBSIDIES TO PUBLICATIONS FOR CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS
On October 6 at the session of the Government of Armenia it was decided to
allocate subsidies to the RA Ministry of Education and Science to assist
newspapers and magazines for children and adolescents under the state budget
of 2005. According to the report of the Department of Information and Public
Relations of the RA Government, subsidies will be allocated to “Aghbyur”,
“Tsitsernak”, “Nakhashavigh”, “Armenian Language and Literature”,
“Lusapsak”, “Khatutik” magazines, “Mankants Yerkir” almanac and newspapers
“Kanch” and “Peri” for children and adolescents.
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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
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Yerevan Press Club
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375002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
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