"MY BREAD MEANS TO BREAK YOUR HEAD"

Lragir.am
13/01/10

Interview with the head of the Committee on freedom of speech Ashot
Melikyan

During the election at Constituency No. 10, journalists became the
main target of assaults. And in general, journalists are very often
assaulted during elections in Armenia. What would you say in this
connection?

I would not say that reporters became the main target because besides
them, political figures, trustees and observers also were assaulted.

This question would be right to be addressed to those who assaulted but
we have our opinion. Unfortunately, not the electors but the leadership
of the government decides the result of the election. From this point,
any one who hinders this process becomes a target of assault. This
is an unnatural phenomenon for civil people, but for those who want
to keep power at any cost, this is quite natural.

During the Yerevan Mayoral election, an incident took place when
one of the shaved-heads told a reporter "my bread means to break
your head". Until they earn their bread in this way, this situation,
unfortunately will continue. However, the society learns about these
incidents so the authors of violence do not reach their goals.

Violence committed against reporters remains unpunished: their authors
are not revealed and do not bear responsibility. In your opinion,
what is the reason?

I would like to remember the press conference of the American Committee
of defense of journalists taken place in September 2009.

Dwelling on the assassinations of journalists, it was noted that if
all that was committed by ordinary criminal elements, those cases
would be revealed immediately. But, unfortunately, those incidents are
organized by the government, people who have authority in political
field who have different subjects which wait for orders. From this
point, it is natural that they do everything for their servants not
to be harmed. The atmosphere of impunity is the result of the fact
that high-ranking officials are engaged in those incidents.

Armenia regularly becomes the target of criticism of different
international lawyer organizations in connection with the low level
of democracy in the country, violation of human rights, freedom of
speech. Yesterday, Freedom House published such a report too, in
accordance with which Armenia has not been registering any progress
in this relations for 8 years running. What would you say in this
connection? Is this a natural phenomenon for post-soviet countries?

I am inclined to think that Freedom House and other lawyer
organizations manage to assess the situation right in their reports.

Their assessments generally reflect the reality. When the government
announces that those are double standards, I think they are not
objective.

After each such a report, the government announces that those
organizations pursue the interest of their own countries hence they
voice assessments which are not to be dwelt. They do not do anything
to correct the situation.

We can only be sorry for such kind of behavior. I think they do
not ignore all this at all. There are sober thinking people within
the government too who understand that in reality those assessments
correspond to the reality. If we proceed from their logic, in the
reports of American organizations, the U.S. had to be in the first
place as the most democratic country of the world. But it is not so.

They criticize their country very much. In the first place there
are countries of Northern Europe, as well as Estonia which is a
post-soviet country.

Interview by ARMAN GALOYAN