ARMENIA: NEWSPAPER SUSPENDED OVER CONFLICT BETWEEN PUBLISHERS
Azg, Yerevan
20 Feb 07
The publication of the opposition Iravunk newspaper has been suspended
after the escalation of the conflict inside the Constitutional Right
Union, the party that publishes the newspaper. The paper’s publication,
however, may resume in a few days, its editor-in-chief has said,
but under a different title.
The following is the text of the report by Gohar Gevorgyan in Armenian
newspaper Azg published on 20 February entitled "Publication of
newspaper Iravunk suspended: Hrant Khachatryan-Hayk Babukhanyan
conflict escalated;"
The conflict in the Constitutional Right Union (CRU) continues between
its founder Hrant Khachatryan and Hayk Babukhanyan. On 8 February,
when visiting the [headquarters] of the party he had founded and
after meeting resistance, Hrant Khachatryan slapped Hayk Babukhanyan.
Eleven days have passed since that controversial incident and now,
another "consequence" of that showdown has surfaced. CRU representative
Hayk Babukhanyan said yesterday [19 February] that the party’s official
newspaper, Iravunk, has been suspended because of the threatening
phone calls from Khachatryan and his supporters. "At this time, it
is not possible to provide security to our staff members, many of
whom are women. We cannot put those people under such a risk," he
said. Yesterday, the editor informed the staff about the suspension
of the paper’s publication. They went home without starting their work.
"True, everybody was ready to work despite the threat. I am grateful
for their fighting spirit, but I cannot allow them to be subjected
to threats."
"The latest threat came today. They were addressed to the women of
our paper," Babukhanyan said in reply to our question "When was the
latest threat and what did they say?"
In addition, another circumstance "has contributed" to the suspension
of the paper’s publication. Iranvunk’s editor-in-chief [Hovhannes
Galajyan] said that the paper’s bank account has been frozen for the
past two weeks.
Hayeconombank, where the paper’s account is, has not offered any
rational explanation as to why the account has been frozen. "They said
the mechanism you were using to get money, cannot be used now. That’s
all. However, no [governmental] body has imposed any official lien on
the account. It has been done by a phone call from somebody," Galajyan
said. He added that his personal e-mail address has also been attacked.
Galajyan is hopeful that they would be able to publish the next issue
of the newspaper on Friday. When we asked if this means that they will
be able to ensure the security of the staff in two days, Galajyan
answered, "We will do whatever we can to ensure the security over a
couple of days. In fact, our paper is in a military condition; a war
has been unleashed against us." He said that they are negotiating with
some people but did not elaborate. He did not even mention whether
these are political forces or not. Galajyan did not rule out the
possibility that the paper might come out with a different title.
Hayk Babukhanyan has said they were preparing a big action. Babukhanyan
has invited [Hrant] Khachatryan to take part in the 19th congress of
the party to be held on 24 February and vote before the members of
the party without applying to court.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
