THE VIOLATED RIGHT OF "A1+" MUST BE RESTORED
A1+
[06:26 pm] 25 December, 2008
Judge of the European Court of Human Rights Alvina Gyulumyan
touched upon the verdict reached by the EC for the lawsuit filed
by "A1+" during a press conference today. Gyulumyan noted that the
fulfillment of the verdict is mandatory and the Ministerial Committee
is following-up on the completion.
"The court reached a verdict. The Ministerial Committee of the Council
of Europe will determine how the verdict must be implemented and what
the requirements are for the country, not the court."
Gyulumyan also noted that the court takes into account the
socio-economic situation of the country when fixing the amount of
the fine.
Let us recall that "A1+" TV was shut down in 2002 and on June 16 this
year the European Court of Human Rights approved the lawsuit filed by
"Meltex" company and reached a verdict according to which the shutdown
of "A1+" independent television was against the 10th article of the
European Convention of Human Rights, which refers to the right to
freedom of speech.
"We believe that the state bodies have not made reasonable decisions
and this is the violation that gave citizens the chance to know why
this company was given an advantage and for the television station
to know the reason for no frequency so that we will not face this
problem during the next contest," said Alvina Gyulumyan.
Based on the verdict reached by the European Court of Human Rights, the
Armenian government had to pay 10,000 euros as compensation for court
expenses and 20,000 euros as compensation for damages caused to "A1+".
Do the payments make up for the government’s obligations to "A1+"
TV? In response to that, Alvina Gyulumyan said:
"The Ministerial Committee not only follows-up on the financial
compensation, but also plans measures to restore the right."
One of the journalists noted that not only does "A1+" not have the
right after the verdict of the European Court, but the government
has adopted a law according to which there will be no tenders until
2010. What must "A1+" do? Should it file a lawsuit? In response to
that, Alvina Gyulumyan said that "A1+" may file a lawsuit if it feels
that its right is violated by law.