Month: July 2007

BILL ON MAKING AMENDMENTS TO RA LAW ON "TELEVISION AND RADIO" ADOPTED BY FIRST READING

Noyan Tapa
Jul 2, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The RA National Assembly adopted the
parcel of bills on making amendments and addenda to the RA Law on
Television and Radio with 79 "for", 16 "against", and 1 "abstaining"
votes at the special session held on June 29.

According to this parcel of bills, the activities of other broadcasting
organizations are unequivocally prohibited by the channels of Public
Television. A state duty of 70 thousand drams (about 200 U.S. dollars)
is defined for each broadcast of the programs of the national editorial
staff and service of foreign mass media by the television and radio
company operating in the RA territory.

Zharangutiun (Heritage), Orinats Yerkir (Country of Law) factions,
as well as independent MPs, non-party Khachatur Sukiasian and Viktor
Dalakian, and Martun Grigorian, a member of Dashink (Alliance) party,
voted against this parcel of bills. Davit Haroutiunian, a member of
the RPA, the Chairman of the NA Standing Committee on state-legal
issues, and the former MInister of Justice, abstained from voting.

During the session the National Assembly also adopted three bills
discussed during the last three days by the first reading. These
three bills envisage to make amendments and addenda to the RA Laws on
"Simplified Tax", "Internatinal Treaties", and "The 2007 State Budget."

ARMENIANS HONOR THEIR MEDALLISTS IN PYATIGORSK

Noyan Tapan
Jul 2, 2007

PYATIGORSK, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. The honoring
ceremony of Armenian leavers who finished school with a medal took
place in the city of Pyatigorsk, Stavropol territory. According to the
editorial office of the Yerkramas newspaper of Armenians in Russia,
the event was organized by the Stavropol regional department of the
Union of Armenians in Russia, on the initiative of the Armenian youth
organizations of the territory and with their active participation
in the celebration, as well as with participation of the Armenian
communities.

The event started at the Surb Sargis (Saint Sargis) church of
Pyatigorsk with the liturgy served by Ter Aram Hunanian, the Deputy
Head of the Russian Southern Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church,
and other clergymen of the Armenian churches of Stavropol. Then,
already at the big hall of the Panorama cafe, situated on the Mashuk
mountain, in official conditions, representatives of the Armenian
intelligentsia, doctors of sciences, honored teachers of Russia,
honored doctors, artists, Europe boxing champion David Hayrapetian,
and heads of RA and NKR youth delegations gave diplomas and souvenirs
to the medallists (122 leavers). Disks of the film "Mother" were given
to all medallists by the Armyanskaya Panorama newspaper of Armenians
of Stavropol and Terek.

The handing of the diplomas was accompanied by performances of
song and dance ensembles of different cities of the territory. The
Stavropol department of the Union of Armenians in Russia has also
set special stipends in the sphere of Armenology, journalism, and
political science.

RUSSIA COMPLETES WITHDRAWAL OF TROOPS FROM AKHALKALAK MILITARY BASE

Noyan Tapan
Jul 2, 2007

AKHALKALAK, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. Levan Nikoleishvili,
the First Georgian Deputy Defence Minister, and Andrei Popov, the
Commander of the Russian military unit in the South Caucasus, at the
June 27 ceremony held in Tbilisi, signed a a document, by which the
military base of Akhalkalak was handed over to Georgia.

According to A-Info, in recent days the Georgian armed forces are
moving to the military base in small groups, where the Georgian state
flag has been already hoisted instead of the Russian one.

Once the number of servicemen reached 15 thousand at the military base,
which began functioning in 1910.

Russia is also going to close its military base in Batumi next
year. Part of the military equipment withdrawn from that military base
is moved to Russia through the territory of Azerbaijan and another
part immediately to Armenia.

LAUNCHING OF ARMENIAN-SWEDISH DICTIONARY TAKES PLACE IN YEREVAN

Noyan Tapan
Jul 2, 2007

YEREVAN, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN. The launching of the Armenian-Swedish
dictionary published in Stockholm took place on June 29 at the National
Library of Armenia. The dictionary including more than 30 thousand
words has been assembled by Poghos Aro, a Swedish-Armenian translator.

David Sargsian, the Director of the National Library of Armenia,
said that this dictionary will enable Armenians living in Sweden to
learn Swedish without any other languages and to communicate with
that country’s people without difficulty. D. Sargsian said that soon
the National Library of Armenia will sign cooperation programs with
a number of Swedish libraries in order to activize Armenian-Swedish
relations, in particular, in the library sphere. Armenian books will
be sent to those libraries from Armenia.

P. Aro said that the number of Armenians residing in Sweden increases
year by year, but most of them are faced by a number of problems due to
not knowing the Swedish language. "I decided to publish this dictionary
for the purpose of helping Armenians. I think Armenians will be able
to easily master Swedish thanks to the dictionary," he said adding
that he is also going to publish a Swedish-Armenian dictionary in 2008.

SECOND READING OF ISSUE OF GIVING STATUS OF REGIONAL LANGUAGE TO ARMENIAN MOVED TO NEXT SITTING’S AGENDA

Noyan Tapan
Jul 2, 2007

AKHALKALAK, JULY 2, NOYAN TAPAN – ARMENIANS TODAY. At the suggestion
of the Council of Armenian NGOs in the Samtskhe-Javakhk and Kvemo
Kartli regions, the issue of giving the status of regional language
to Armenian along with the state language of Georgian in the above
mentioned regions and of stipulating this by the Georgian Constitution
was placed on the agenda of the Akhalkalak Municipality Assembly.

Mr D. Rstakian, a deputy of the Municipality and a member of the
Council, said that the Assembly unanimously adopted the bill on
having the status of the Armenian language, but in consideration of
the issue’s importance and for the purpose of clarifying and editing,
the bill was moved to the next sitting’s agenda.

In the words of M. Torosian, a member of the coordinating group on
the issue of giving the status of regional language to Armenian and
stipulating this by the law, the same bill will be also submitted
for discussion to all municipal assemblies of southern regions of
Georgia populated with Armenians. He said that in the regions where
Armenian deputies have no majority they will express their attitude
to the bill in written form.

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH SLAMS ‘PRESS FREEDOM CURBS’ IN ARMENIA
By Emil Danielyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
July 2 2007

A leading international human rights organization has strongly
criticized controversial government-drafted amendments to two Armenian
laws which it believes could "effectively ban" future broadcasts of
RFE/RL and thereby further restrict freedom of the media in Armenia.

"These new laws clearly restrict access to a crucial independent news
source for many Armenians and deal a serious blow to RFE/RL and to
freedom of the media in general," Holly Cartner, Europe and Central
Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a weekend statement.

"The parliament should under no circumstances pass this bill in the
second reading."

The New York-based group said the proposed ban on retransmission of
foreign broadcasts by Armenian state television and radio and heavy
fees for private networks engaging in such broadcasts "appear to
specifically target RFE/RL’s Armenian service."

"By passing these laws, Armenia risks violating its international
commitments to freedom of expression and the media," said Cartner.

She specifically pointed to an article of the European Convention
on Human Rights that guarantees the right "to receive and impart
information and ideas without interference by public authority and
regardless of frontiers."

Cartner also implied that continued RFE/RL broadcasts, which
are accessible to the vast majority of Armenians thanks to their
retransmission by state radio, are essential for the freedom and
fairness of next year’s Armenian presidential election. "As Armenia
prepares for presidential elections in 2008, the world will certainly
be watching to see if the government respects freedom of the media
and other freedoms necessary for a free and fair vote," she said.

HRW argued that although Armenia has a "vibrant print media," its
government maintains "close control over the much more accessible
broadcast media." It cited in this regard the effective closure in
2002 of A1+, the only local TV channel that regularly aired criticism
of President Robert Kocharian and his administration.

The government bills have also been criticized by the Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) representative on
freedom of the media, Miklos Haraszti. In a statement last week,
Haraszti said they infringe Armenia’s commitments to safeguard media
pluralism and access to information, and called on the Armenian
authorities to drop them.

ARMENIAN ‘COUP PLOTTERS’ GO ON TRIAL
By Ruzanna Stepanian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
July 2 2007

Two prominent veterans of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh and one of
their former comrades-in-arms went on a high-profile trial on Monday,
accused of plotting to overthrow Armenia’s government.

Zhirayr Sefilian and Vartan Malkhasian appeared before a court in
Yerevan seven months after being arrested on what they and their
supporters call trumped-up and politically motivated charges.

Sefilian is a Lebanese citizen of Armenian descent who leads a
naitonalist pressure group opposed to Armenian concessions to
Azerbaijan, while Malkhasian is a leader of a small opposition party.

The two men were arrested by officers of the National Security
Service (NSS) in December just days after presiding over the founding
conference of a new organization opposed to the return of any of the
occupied Azerbaijani territories surrounding Karabakh. Regime change
in Yerevan is another declared aim of their Union of Armenian Alliance
(HKH).

The case against Sefilian and Malkhasian is essentially based on
statements made by them during the HKH gathering held behind the
closed doors. They appeared to justify violent actions as a legitimate
method of struggle against the administration of President Robert
Kocharian. Publicly calling for a "violent overthrow of the government"
is a crime in Armenia.

The third defendant, Vahan Aroyan, was arrested later in December
after NSS investigators claimed to have found a massive arms cache in
his village in southern Armenia. The former soldier has since been
kept under arrest despite reportedly refusing to implicate Sefilian
in the alleged illegal arms possession.

The courtroom, packed with supporters of the three men, burst into
rapturous applause and chants of "Freedom! Freedom!" as Sefilian,
Malkhasian and Aroyan took their seats in the dock surrounded by
armed guards. Aroyan wore wartime military uniform.

Several dozen protesters also gathered outside the court of first
instance of Yerevan’s Kentron and Nor-Marash. Organizers of the protest
claimed that the authorities want to imprison the three nationalist
activists due to a presidential election due early next year. "They
want to prevent consolidation of Armenian volunteers during the
pre-election period, which could in turn consolidate the opposition
and seriously threaten the authorities," said Armen Aghayan, another
HKH leader.

The first hearing at districts adjourned until July 6 shortly after
its start, with the defense lawyers demanding the replacement of the
presiding judge, Mnatsakan Martirosian. They said Martirosian can
not be impartial because he has repeatedly and ujustly refused to
release the suspects on bail.

Just as the trial of the alleged coup plotters got underway, another
Kentron court judge allowed the NSS to keep Aleksandr Arzumanian,
a well-known opposition politician charged with being illegally
financed from abroad, under pre-trial arrest for two more months.

Following a short hearing held behind the closed doors, the court
ruled that Arzumanian should remain in detention on the grounds that
he will obstruct justice if set free now. It also cited continuing
"investigative actvities" conducted by Armenia’s National Security
Service (NSS) as part of the politically charged criminal case. It
also ignored a written statement by 19 Armenian parliamentarians who
guaranteed that Arzumanian would not flee the country.

Arzumanian’s lawyer, Hovik Arsenian, rejected the verdict as
"unfounded" and pledged to appeal it. He stood by his claims that
the Armenian successor to the Soviet KGB lacks any evidence to jail
his client and is artificially dragging out his release.

There have been no known cases of Armenian courts rejecting arrest
petitions filed by the ex-KGB.

Arzumanian was arrested on May 7 on charges of illegally receiving
a large amount of money from Levon Markos, a fugitive Russian
businessman of Armenian descent. His arrest came two days after NSS
officers searched his Yerevan apartment and confiscated $55,400 worth
of cash kept there. Arzumanian, who had served as foreign minister
from 1996-1998, denies the accusations as politically motivated.

FOREIGN BROADCASTING BAN ‘APPLICABLE TO RFE/RL’
By Astghik Bedevian and Ruzanna Khachatrian

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
July 2 2007

A legal ban on retransmission of foreign broadcasts by Armenia’s
widely accessible state radio could extend to the daily news programs
of RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Justice Minister Gevorg Danielian said
on Monday.

Danielian made this clear as parliament wrapped up heated debates on
a package of government-drafted amendments to the Armenian laws on
broadcasting and state duties that are widely regarded as an attempt
to severely restrict RFE/RL broadcasts. The National Assembly passed
the draft amendments in the first reading on Friday and is expected
to turn them into law on Tuesday.

In what may have been a sign of disagreements within the country’s
leadership, Danielian’s remarks contradicted renewed assurances by top
members of Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK)
that the highly controversial bill does not apply to the crucial
retransmission of RFE/RL’s popular Armenian-language programs by the
government-controlled Public Radio.

"This law can in no way apply to Radio Liberty," Samvel Nikoyan, a
senior HHK lawmaker, said, presenting the governing party’s official
position on the contentious issue.

Another top Republican, parliament speaker Tigran Torosian, was also
at pains to insist on this during Monday’s debates and in an extensive
weekend interview with RFE/RL. Torosian repeated his arguments that
the proposed ban concerns only "broadcasting companies." Under Armenian
law, RFE/RL can not be considered as such because it does not have its
own broadcasting license and has to use the broadcasting frequencies
of state and private radios instead, he said.

"Nobody will have the legal grounds to close down Radio Liberty on the
basis of this bill, if it is adopted," said Torosian. "I say this for
certain. And if it crosses somebody’s mind to take such a step after
the adoption of this law, you will be able to easily challenge those
‘grounds’ in the court."

However, the government added to its package on Monday new language
containing a more ambiguous legal definition of "broadcaster" which
Danielian said may apply to RFE/RL. Asked by RFE/RL to explain
the diametrically opposite interpretations of the bill by senior
officials, the justice minister said vaguely: "There are new terms,
new formulations, and the situation is new. There are no differences."

The parliament’s tiny opposition minority, meanwhile, again accused
Kocharian and his three-party governing coalition of seeking to
muzzle what it again called the sole broadcaster not controlled by
the authorities.

"The freedom of the rank-and-file citizens of our country is under
attack," said Raffi Hovannisian of the opposition Zharangutyun party.

"It is evident that Armenia’s political leadership has decided
to close down Raffi Liberty," charged Victor Dallakian, a veteran
parliamentarian opposed to the government.

"If you are rejecting Radio Liberty, then you should also reject
assistance provided by the United States," Dallakian said, pointing
to the fact that Armenia has been a leading per-capita recipient of
US economic aid ever since its independence.

The opposition claims were again rejected by representatives of the
parliament majority. "Claims that freedom of the media could die are
not serious," said the HHK’s Eduard Sharmazanov.

A representative of the pro-Kocharian Prosperous Armenia Party
(BHK), one of the HHK’s two junior coalition partners, was even
more unwavering in advocating the draft laws. Aram Safarian said the
government should disregard the domestic and international criticism to
"establish law and order in our house" and ensure "equal competition"
among media outlets.

The third coalition partner, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation
(Dashnaktsutyun), again avoided publicly expressing its position on
the issue, in what amounted to tacit approval of the government bill.

Like their colleagues from the HHK and the BHK, Dashnaktsutyun deputies
present at Friday’s parliament session unanimously voted for it.

COUNCIL OF EUROPE CONCERNED ABOUT RFE/RL FUTURE IN ARMENIA
By Anna Saghabalian and Harry Tamrazian in Prague

Radio Liberty, Czech Republic
July 2 2007

Visiting senior representatives of the Council of Europe warned the
Armenian authorities on Monday against effectively pulling RFE/RL off
the air, saying that its Armenian-language broadcasts are essential
for political pluralism in the country.

The members of a Council of Europe body monitoring Armenia’s compliance
with its membership obligations to the Strasbourg-based organization
arrived in Yerevan on a regular fact-finding mission that comes in
the aftermath of the May 12 parliamentary elections.

Armenian leaders say that their handling of the vote, described
as largely democratic by European observers, marked significant
progress towards the fulfillment of those commitments and hoped to
earn corresponding praise from the so-called Ago Group. However,
the visit was clearly overshadowed by their controversial drive to
amend the Armenian laws on broadcasting and state duties in a way
that could end RFE/RL’s widely accessible broadcasts.

Ambassador Per Sjogren, head of the group representing the Council
of Europe’s decision-making Committee of Ministers, made a special
statement on the issue at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister
Vartan Oskanian. He said the planned ban on retransmission of foreign
broadcasts by Armenian state radio could result in a "serious and
adverse impact" on press freedom.

Sjogren also criticized the government proposal to impose heavy fees
on private radio stations engaging in such re-broadcasts. He said the
"disproportionately high broadcasting fees" would strongly discourage
those stations from doing business with foreign broadcasters like
RFE/RL.

"This approach would be contrary to the public interest and the
important contribution that independent and free media should make to
fostering public debate, political pluralism, and diverse opinions,"
the Swedish diplomat said.

Expressing his personal position on the matter, Oskanian again voiced
support for continued unfettered activities of RFE/RL’s Armenian
service. "I hope that a solution will be found as a result of which
Radio Liberty will continue its broadcasts in Armenia," he said.

Oskanian also promised to convey the Council of Europe concerns to
his government.

Sjogren and other members of the Ago Group are due to meet President
Robert Kocharian and parliament speaker Tigran Torosian on Tuesday.

RFE/RL’s future in Armenia was high on the agenda of their meetings
earlier on Monday with Armenian opposition parties and non-governmental
organizations.

In Vienna, meanwhile, the top official at the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe monitoring freedom of the media,
Miklos Haraszti, reiterated his concerns about the draft amendments
in question. In a phone interview with RFE/RL, he said they could
"significantly weaken Armenians’ access to information."

Haraszti also said that he will convey his concerns to the OSCE’s
Vienna-based governing Permanent Council in a special report.

EIGHTEEN GO ON TRIAL FOR DINK KILLING

Deutsche Welle, Germany –
July 2 2007

Eighteen people have gone on trial in Turkey’s largest city, Istanbul,
in connection with the murder of ethnic Armenian journalist Hrant
Dink. The trial began under heavy security, with more than a thousand
protesters gathered outside of the courthouse. A 17-year-old youth has
admitted gunning down Dink outside of the offices of his newspaper
back in January. The youth, who is said to be close to Turkish
ultra-nationalist groups, told investigators that he had killed
Dink because he was an enemy of Turkey. Dink was hated by Turkish
nationalists for calling the mass killings of Armenians under the
Ottoman Empire during World War I genocide. Despite having received
many death threats he was never granted police protection.