TIGRAN SARGSYAN: ARMENIA’S JUDICIAL SYSTEM CAN BE FAIR

news.am
Dec 25 2009
Armenia

"Unfortunately, law-enforcement agencies, including courts, are not
always impartial, but it dopes not mean the institutions are not to
work, does it?" RA Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan stated, commenting
on the RA Government’s approval of a bill providing for fines up to
2m AMD for libel.

As to whether court verdicts will be impartial and what will happen
to the Armenian mass media, especially opposition media outlets, if
the amendments are enforced, the Premier said: "The problems of mass
media will always be the focus of mass media’s attention, therefore,
the focus of public attention. I am sure that the judicial system
is capable of making fair and impartial decisions. I can assure you
that judicial decisions in this field do not pose as high a risk as
the ones made, for example, in the economic field."

As regards the closure of the A1+ TV channel, Chorrord Ishkhanutyun
(Fourth Estate) newspaper, and, one time, Oragir (Diary) newspaper,
as well as other media outlets, the Premier said that a few instances
are not a basis for general conclusions.