WITH NEWS MEDIA PARALYSED AND WEBSITES INACCESSIBLE, GOVERNMENT IS URGED TO LIFT STATE OF EMERGENCY
Reporters Without Borders
March 5 2008
France
A 20-day state of emergency which President Robert Kocharyan proclaimed
in the capital Yerevan on 1 March is having a serious impact on the
activity of the news media, Reporters Without Borders said today. The
emergency was declared after clashes between security forces and
opposition protesters who say last month’s presidential election
was rigged.
"This authoritarian decision to liable to reinforce part of the
population’s resentment of the lack of real free expression in
Armenia," the press freedom organisation said. "We urge the authorities
to lift the state of emergency so that the media can resume working
normally and report on the circumstances in which force was used in
clashes leaving a toll of eight dead and more than 130 wounded."
Under the state of emergency, all news media are required to use only
official information in their domestic coverage. Reporters Without
Borders has learned that access to several online news publications –
including the news agency A1+ (), the opposition newspaper
Haykakan Jamanak () and website of the daily Aravot
() – has been blocked by their hosting service provider,
Arminco Ltd, on the orders of the security services.
The programmes of Radio Free Europe, the only foreign radio station to
broadcast in Armenian, have been replaced by music, and the station’s
website is also inaccessible.
Three pro-government dailies – Azg, Hayastani Hanrapetutyun and
Hayots Ashxar – continue to be published but one of the most popular
newspapers, Aravot, did not appear yesterday. The issue was banned
by the security services after it was sent to the printer’s. The
newspaper’s staff then decided to publish blank pages in protest but
they were prevented from doing this as well. Other newspapers such
as Haykakan Jamanak and 168 Zham were not published either.
A complaint has been brought against Levon Barseghyan, the president
of the "Asparez" journalists club in Gyumri, the second largest
city (125 km north of Yerevan), accusing him of organising illegal
gatherings. He has denied this, and his denial has been supported by
several witnesses, but his trial is due to start within a few days.
At least three journalists have had run-ins with the police in
Gyumri. Radio Free Europe correspondent Satenik Vantsyan was hit by
police officers. Nune Arevshatyan of Aravot was manhandled by policemen
who took her camera. And Armine Vardanyan of local television station
Gala TV was arrested while doing her a report and her equipment was
confiscated, including the video she had filmed just before her arrest.
Many journalists have criticised the vagueness of the directive
banning the use of unofficial information as it complicates their
work. When they interview members of the government, for example,
they often do not know whether they can publish the information.
The TV stations are under especially close surveillance. The national
news reports and information they are providing are in fact being
broadcast by police press officers. Not only is the video footage
the same but also the analyses and comments.