YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
JUNE 3-9, 2005
HIGHLIGHTS:
TWENTY-EIGHTH “PRESS CLUB” SHOW
JOURNALIST ARRESTED AS A SUSPECT IN CHEATING
TWENTY-EIGHTH “PRESS CLUB” SHOW
On June 6 on evening air of the Second Armenian TV Channel twenty-eighth
“Press Club” show was issued. The cycle is organized by Yerevan Press Club
under a homonymous project, supported by the OSI Network Media Program.
The subject for discussion of the representatives of leading media and
journalistic associations of Armenia were the results of the referenda on
European Constitution held in France and the Netherlands. By the forecast of
“Press Club” participants, the main subjects for the week will be the
elections of the heads of administration in three communities in Yerevan and
in Spitak on June 5; the rally of opposition forces in Baku on June 4; the
football game between Armenia and Romania on June 8. In the opinion of
program participants, the Armenian media will continue analyzing amendments
to the RA Constitution in the context of recommendations made by the
representatives of Venice Commission, who visited Yerevan last week, as well
as the response of international community to the referenda on European
Constitution.
JOURNALIST ARRESTED AS A SUSPECT IN CHEATING
On June 4 the court of primary jurisdiction of Center and Nork-Marash
communities of Yerevan selected arrest as a preventive punishment of Theresa
Asatrian, an employee of press-center of the Union of Armenian Writers,
member of the Journalists Union of Armenia.
According to the June 2 press release of the Public Relations and
Information Department of the RA General Prosecutor’s Office, Theresa
Asatrian was detained on June 1, and on May 30 the Investigative Department
of the General Prosecutor’s Office instituted criminal proceedings against
her on clause 2 part 2 of Article 34-178 (“Attempt of cheating”) and on
clause 1 part 3 of Article 38-312 (“Involvement in bribing”) of the RA
Criminal Code. On May 17, 2005, the press release of the General
Prosecutor’s Office informs, Theresa Asatrian by deception and confidence
abuse extorted $ 3,500 from a notary of Vanadzor notary region Arusiak
Azarian. As noted further, Theresa Asatrian provoked the notary to give a
bribe of the amount noted allegedly to prevent the submission to the court
of the materials against the notary gathered by the RA National Security
Service, and the publication of a revelatory article written by the
journalist herself. “Under this pretext, on May 17, 2005 Theresa Asatrian
received from Arusiak Azarian $ 1,000, and she did not get the remaining $
2,500 for reasons beyond her control”, the General Prosecutor’s Office
reports.
The detainment of the journalist was broadly covered by Armenian media
which, basically, each in its own way, described the details of the meeting
of Theresa Asatrian and Arusiak Azarian.
Armineh Ohanian, in her article “Accused of Cheating” (“Haikakan Zhamanak”
daily, June 3, 2005) writes that on May 30 she received an unexpected
telephone call from Theresa Asatrian, who said she had prepared an article
on Vanadzor notary Arusiak Azarian, which she would like to have published
in the daily. The lengthy article by Theresa Asatrian given to “Haikakan
Zhamanak” told, in particular, about the possible involvement of Arusiak
Azarian in several questionable deals, as well as, to a certain extent, to
the murder in Vanadzor – in summer 2005 – of a major criminal nicknamed Goga
(Gevorg Arakelian, “Aravot” daily specified on June 3, 2005, quoting the
same version). When describing the situation, “Haikakan Zhamanak” notes that
so far it is unclear, whether the law enforcement bodies possess weighty
proofs of the guilt of Theresa Asatrian (apart from the statement and the
testimony of the notary). The publication promised to follow the
developments and to inform the public, since “the defendant is a journalist,
and we know numerous cases when attempts to restrict freedom of expression
were disguised as criminal proceedings, and the time will show whether it is
the same case or we are dealing with a completely different reality”.
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Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
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