CENSORSHIP MOST COMMON JOURNALISTS RIGHTS VIOLATION IN 2008
PanARMENIAN.Net
24.02.2009 16:31 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Freedom of Speech Protection Committee head Ashot
Melikyan and expert Mesrop Harutyunyan presented an annual report on
violations of journalists’ rights in 2008 in Armenia.
Mesrop Harutyunyan drew parallels between 2003 and 2008, as these
were the years of presidential elections in Armenia.
According to the report, 25 instances of violations were registered
in 2003 and the number grew to 48 in 2008. The experts divided
the offences into several categories, the first category including
physical assaults, the second – pressure, the third – violation of
the right to receive and disseminate the information.
The authors specified that censorship was among the most common of
journalists’ rights violations in 2008.
If previously the censorship was camouflaged, in 2008 during
government-opposition conflicts, open censure, though illegal, was
imposed upon the journalists.
Harutyunyan called on the government to create favorable conditions
for journalists and secure freedom of speech.