ARMENIAN COURT RULES BAN ON OPPOSITION PAPER UNTIL REPAYMENT OF ALLEGED DEBT

Aravot
Nov 17 2009
Armenia

A court of law in Armenia’s capital Yerevan has issued a verdict,
upholding interim court decisions on banning publication of
the pro-opposition Chorrord Ishkhanutyun (Fourth Estate) paper,
the Aravot pro-opposition daily reported on 17 November. Thus,
according to the verdict issued on 16 November, the founder of the
Chorrord Ishkhanutyun paper, Ogostos company, will have to pay Gind
printing house about 2.6m Armenian drams (about 7,000 dollars) as a
compensation for alleged debts, Aravot reported. The court banned
Chorrord Ishkhanutyun’s publishing until the alleged debt is not
repaid, Aravot added in the same report.

The Gind company, which had printed the newspaper, sued Ogostos
earlier this year over alleged unpaid bills totalling some 5m
drams (13,000 dollars). A Yerevan court ordered Ogostos to stop
publishing the paper until the court case ends. Officials from the
Service of Mandatory Execution of Judicial Acts (SMEJA) visited the
newspaper’s offices on 9 November and warned the paper to comply with
the ban.The next day the daily published some 5,200 copies under a
new name – Chorrord Inknishkhanutyun (Fourth Self-rule) at another
printing house. The paper is known for its staunch support for the
opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) and its harsh attacks
on the government. The Aravot daily reported earlier that Gind,
bypassing the agreement signed between Ogostos company and itself,
unilaterally and secretly from the paper decided to raise the tariff
for printing Chorrord Ishkhanutyun paper.

For its part the administration of the Armenian parliament has
cancelled credentials of Chorrord Ishkhanutyun’s parliamentary
journalists, Aravot added in its 17 November report. A journalist of
Chorrord Ishkhanutyun, Taguhi Tovmasyan, was permitted entrance to
the parliament on 16 November as an expression of goodwill, but she
was not permitted entrance to the parliament’s session hall, Aravot
reported. The editor of Chorrord Ishkhanutyun, Shogher Matevosyan,
said the court verdict was a political order and that the paper will
appeal the verdict at upper instances – up to the European Court
of Human Rights, Aravot reported. The editor said that the Chorrord
Inknishkhanutyun paper will continue printing, Aravot reported.