IFEX – News from the international freedom of expression community
ALERT – ARMENIA
5 October 2009
WPFC calls for release of leading editor
SOURCE: World Press Freedom Committee

(WPFC/IFEX) – The World Press Freedom Committee wrote a letter to the
president of Armenia urging him to use his power and influence to gain the
release of the editor-in-chief of the country’s largest newspaper:

Oct. 2, 2009

His Excellency Serzh Sargsyan
President of the Republic of Armenia
26 Marshal Baghramian Ave.
Yerevan 0077
Republic of Armenia

Your Excellency:

The World Press Freedom Committee – an organization representing 44 press
freedom groups from throughout the world – expresses its profound concern
about the fate of Nicol Pashinyan, editor-in-chief of the country’s leading
newspaper, Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Times), who was arrested on July 1
after he voluntarily came out of hiding.

Mr. Pashinyan, whose trial will start soon, is accused of very serious
crimes, including inciting mass disorder and assaulting a public official.
But the truth is he was just exercising his right to free expression during
a peaceful political rally on March 1, 2008, which ended up being brutally
repressed by riot police. The bloody incident left ten people dead.

A 2008 US State Department report on human rights concluded that, "some of
the deaths may have occurred from purposeful arbitrary killing, misuse of
crowd control equipment or some combination of these factors." The report
goes on to conclude that no investigations were conducted into the behavior
of the security forces during the incident.

Mr. Pashinyan, whose writings had been very critical of the government,
went into hiding after that fateful day and continued writing for his
newspaper. After the Armenian Parliament passed a resolution of amnesty for
all those implicated in the March 1 incident, he decided to come of out of
hiding only to be immediately arrested and taken to a former KGB prison.

The arrest took place in blatant defiance of the amnesty resolution and of
a resolution by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE),
which reminded the Armenian authorities that "the amnesty will also apply
to those persons charged in relation to the events of 1 and 2 March 2008."
The PACE resolution also urges the Armenian authorities to allow those
charged in relation with that incident to remain free during the duration
of their legal proceedings.

Arresting a journalist because of his professional activity is a serious
attack not only on his fundamental human rights, including press freedom,
but also on his audience, who thus is deprived of important information
about issues of public interest. By keeping him in prison, you also hold
his audience hostage to an arbitrary decision that attempts against
fundamental democratic principles.

The harassment and illegal detention of members of the media represent
grave violations of fundamental human rights postulates enshrined not only
in the Armenian Constitution but also in international covenants, such as
the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, of which your
country is signatory.

Article 19 of the Declaration states:

Everyone has the right to freedom of expression and opinion; this right
includes the freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek,
receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless
of frontiers

Your Excellency, we urge you to exercise your presidential power and
influence to grant the immediate release of Mr. Pashinyan from prison thus
showing the international community your government does respect freedom of
the press and due process.

Respectfully:
Richard Winfield
Chairman
World Press Freedom Committee

Javier Sierra
Projects Director
World Press Freedom Committee

RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Send similar appeals to:

His Excellency Serzh Sargsyan
President of the Republic of Armenia
26 Marshal Baghramian Ave.
Yerevan 0077
Republic of Armenia
press@president.am
fax: +37410 522364

_detained/

For more information:
World Press Freedom Committee
11690-C Sunrise Valley Dr.
Reston, VA 20191
USA
Phone: +1 703 715 9811
Fax: +1 703 620 6790

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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress