IFEX – News from the international freedom of expression community

ARMENIA

7 July 2006

Editor jailed without bail; political motives cited

SOURCE: Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), New York

(CPJ/IFEX) – The following is a CPJ press release:

Armenian editor jailed without bail; political motives cited

New York, July 7, 2006 – The editor of an opposition daily has been
jailed in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, for more than two weeks
without bail. Arman Babadzhanian, editor-in-chief of Zhamanak Yerevan
(Yerevan Times), faces up to five years in prison for allegedly
forging documents to avoid military service, but the Committee to
Protect Journalists and others are concerned that the charge was
prompted by his newspaper’s critical reporting on government conduct.

Babadzhanian was arrested June 26, just days after the
Armenian-language newspaper published an article questioning the
independence of the prosecutor general’s office, said Seda Muradian,
of the London-based Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR),
which has followed the case closely. Authorities allege that the
forgeries occurred in 2002, but they did not explain the delay in
pressing charges.

Press reports said the prosecutor general summoned Babadzhanian for
questioning as a witness in a criminal case but jailed him instead
on the forgery charge. News reports said that the editor allegedly
confessed to forging documents to avoid the draft, but press freedom
and human rights groups are questioning the prosecutors’ motives.

Babadzhanian was being held today in the Nabarashen pretrial detention
center in Yerevan, according to the Yerevan Press Club. His lawyer
unsuccessfully sought Babadzhanian’s release from preliminary detention
while the case was pending. CPJ sources said that Babadzhanian could
remain imprisoned without bail for weeks before the case proceeds.

Muradian, Armenia country director for IWPR, said the prosecutor’s
refusal to grant Babadzhanian preliminary release on bail is very
unusual in this type of case. "Authorities are treating Babadzhanian
as a dangerous criminal," Muradian told CPJ.

On Wednesday, the Yerevan Press Club, Internews Armenia, the Committee
to Protect Freedom of Expression, the Helsinki Committee of Armenia,
and other local press freedom groups sent a letter to the prosecutor
general’s office seeking Babadzhanian’s release on bail.

The groups also challenged the validity of Babadzhanian’s purported
confession. Also on Wednesday, editors of seven Armenian independent
and opposition newspapers issued a statement saying Babadzhanian’s
arrest was intended to intimidate the press.

"We are very concerned that the criminal case against Arman
Babadzhanian may be related to his journalism," CPJ Executive Director
Joel Simon said today. "We call on Armenian authorities to release
him pending trial and make their evidence against him public."

Babadzhanian’s colleagues from Zhamanak Yerevan staged protests in
front of the prosecutor general’s office for three days after their
editor was arrested, saying that the case is politically motivated
and connected to the paper’s critical editorial stance, according to
press reports.

Armenian independent press has come under pressure in recent years.

The independent television station A1+ has been refused a broadcast
license 11 times since it was taken off the air in 2002. In April
2005, legislation restricting press coverage of terrorism was
adopted. Retaliatory assaults against journalists continue, especially
in the provinces, and officials do little to apprehend and prosecute
the perpetrators, CPJ research shows.

CPJ is a New York-based, independent, nonprofit organization that
works to safeguard press freedom worldwide. For more information on
Armenia, visit

For further information, contact Nina Ognianova (x106) at CPJ, 330
Seventh Ave., New York, NY 10001, U.S.A., tel: +1 212 465 1004, fax:
+1 212 465 9568, e-mail: europe@cpj.org, Internet:

The information contained in this alert is the sole responsibility
of CPJ. In citing this material for broadcast or publication, please
credit CPJ.

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