Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office : When in Armenia they say about the
political prisoners, they first of all mean those sentences as a
result of March 1, 2008, events

2010-04-09 18:01:00

ArmInfo presents apologies to the head of the OSCE Yerevan Office Mr.
Sergey Kapinos and the readers for serious technical mistakes made by
ArmInfo news agency over translation of the issue about the public
lecture delivered by Mr. Kapinos at the Russian-Armenian (Slavonic)
University, on 6 April , 2010, which have led to distortion of the
core of the lecture especially in the part regarding the prisoners in
connection with the 1 March 2008 events in Yerevan.

ArmInfo. The term "political prisoners" is used nowhere in the
international-legal documents. One cannot find it in PACE resolutions
on Armenia either. They just say about the prisoners in connection
with the 1 March events. However, when here, in Armenia they speak
about the political prisoners, they first of all mean those sentenced
as a result of 1 March, 2008, events, Head of the OSCE Yerevan Office,
Ambassador Sergey Kapinos said in the public lecture delivered by him
at Russian-Armenian (Slavonic) University.

According to him, the report by OSCE Bureau for Democratic
Institutions and Human Rights on monitoring of judicial proceedings
Has revealed serious tight spots and faults in the work of the
judicial system. This report raises serious problems and causes doubts
about impartiality of a number of court decisions. ‘I am sure the
issue will remain open until these problems and doubts are not
removed’, – the diplomat said.

When speaking about the initiative of the Heritage party on
organization of the roundtable with participation of the coalition and
opposition parties for the joint discussion of the problems which are
still relevant today and all the political forces are concerned about
them, Kapinos emphasized that this idea is very useful but should not
be limited by one political topic. There must be a dialogue. S.
Kapinos recalled that in 2008 the OSCE chairman-in-office Ilkka
Kanerva came forward with call to the political dialogue between the
Armenian authorities and the opposition. According to him, a dialogue
is the most civilized way of political struggle, therefore, OSCE
unambiguously stands for the political dialogue among different
political parties. He said this can really give positive results.
According to the diplomat, a dialogue will promote stabilization and
consolidation of the society.

Asked if it would be better for the country if the political process
was concentrated in the parliament, the diplomat replied that the role
of the Armenian parliament in the political life of the country could
be more essential. The parliament must discuss the most serious issues
the people are concerned about. The amendments to the Constitution of
Armenia, adopted in 2005, were also aimed at development of the
parliamentary democracy. There is a field for movement in this
direction. ‘I am for resolving of all the principal issues in the
parliament. The interests of different social layers as well as the
real social and economical structure of the society should be
reflected in the parliament. Moreover, the parliament actually becomes
an important center for making political decisions’, – he said. The
diplomat thinks that despite the popular belief, actually there is the
opposition in the Armenian parliament. According to the diplomat, the
opposition is available even because there is Heritage party, being an
oppositional one from the very beginning. Now, he said, there is
another oppositional party there – ARFD, and it’s another matter that
the opposition is weakly represented, while any democratic state
should be interested in having strong opposition. Kapinos emphasized
that strong opposition makes it possible to form a competitive field
which catalyzes development of the society.

Asked about freedom of mass media in the country, the diplomat replied
that everything is not so bad in Armenia as compared to another
countries. The real pluralism is available in the country’s print
media, which was evident during the presidential election. "However,
the international organizations say there are certain problems with
the electron media, as well as radio and TV broadcasting. And we are
working in that area. S. Kapinos recalled the decision of the European
Court on Human Rights on A1+ TV Company. "An OSCE Representative on
Freedom of the Media is expected to visit Yerevan in May.

We have information that the issue of A1+ will be on agenda. We think
that A1+ should be allowed to take part in the upcoming contest for
broadcast license. This participation must be in conformity with exact
procedures, and all the international organizations, including OSCE,
will observe the process, S. Kapinos said. "A two-year moratorium on
provision of frequencies is currently in force, so, A1+ cannot take
part in any tenders. This moratorium expires in July, 2010, and legal
basis is now developed for conduct of new tenders for TV-frequencies,"
the diplomat said.