Category: News

February 13 is World Radio Day – a day to celebrate radio as a medium. The day was proclaimed World Radio Day at  the 36th session of UNESCO’s General Conference.

UNESCO’s Executive Board recommended to the General Conference the proclamation of World Radio Day, on the basis of a feasibility study undertaken by UNESCO, further to a proposal from Spain.

Radio is the mass media reaching the widest audience in the world. It is also recognized as a powerful commuaniction tool and a low cost medium. Radio is specifically suited to reach remote communities and vulnerable people: the illiterate, the disabled, women, youth and the poor, while offering a platform to intervene in the public debate, irrespective of people’s educational level. Furthermore, radio has a strong and specific role in emergency communication and disaster relief.

There is also a changing face to radio services which, in the present times of media convergence, are taking up new technological forms, such as broadband, mobiles and tablets. However, it is said that up to a billion people still do not have access to radio today.

The date of 13 February, the day the United Nations radio was established in 1946, was proposed by the Director-General of UNESCO. The objectives of the Day will be to raise greater awareness among the public and the media of the importance of radio; to encourage decision makers to establish and provide access to information through radio; as well as to enhance networking and international cooperation among broadcasters.

The consulted stakeholders also proposed ideas for the programme of celebration: extensive use of social media, annual themes, a dedicated website enabling virtual participation, special radio programmes, radio programmes exchange, a festival involving key partners, and so forth.

On 14 January 2013, the United Nations General Assembly formally endorsed UNESCO’s proclamation of  World Radio Day. During its 67th Session, the UN General Assembly endorsed the resolution adopted during the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, proclaiming 13 February, the day United Nations Radio was established in 1946, as World Radio Day.

President Serzh Sargsyan sent a congratulatory message to Frank-Walter Steinmeier on his election as President of Germany and expressed confidence that Frank-Walter Steinmeier’s impressive political and civil biography and profound experience would serve the best for Germany’s further advancement and continuous rise, promoting Germany’s greater role at the international arena and prosperity of the friendly people of Germany, President’s Press Office reports.

The President of Armenia noted that over the twenty-five years of diplomatic relations betweenArmenian and Germany the two countries have registered serious achievements in the political, economic, and humanitarian areas and are willing to deepen them further, which is proven by the high- level political dialogue and the increased dynamics of the reciprocal visits, expansion of the inter-parliamentary and decentralized ties, as well as Germany’s steadfast support to Armenia-EU cooperation.

“Today, Germany is also Armenia’s leading economic partner and donor, a constant supporter of the large-scale reforms carried out in our country.

I attach great importance to the fact that our cooperation is anchored not only on mutual interests but also on the common system of values. It is proved also by the adoption last year in the German Bundestag of the Resolution on the Recognition of the Armenian Genocide.

Aware of your professionalism and patriotism, I am confident that during your tenure our bilateral relations will not only preserve the current dynamics but will also give a new impetus for the prosperity of our countries and peoples.

I congratulate you once again and wish you new achievements on that high and responsible position,” reads the congratulatory message of President Serzh Sargsyan.

Amnesty International has condemned the extradition of a blogger from Belarus to Azerbaijan. “Upon transfer to Baku on 7 February, Alexander Lapshin was taken immediately into custody. In Azerbaijan, he is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment as well as an unfair trial. The criminal proceedings against Alexander Lapshin should be terminated, and he should be released immediately,” the Amnesty said in a statement.

Alexander Lapshin is a popular blogger, and a citizen of Russia, Israel and Ukraine. He was arrested on 15 December 2016 in Belarus, on request from Azerbaijan. Criminal proceedings were initiated by the Azerbaijani authorities against him under Articles 281.2 and 318.2 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Azerbaijan (“public appeals against the state”, punishable by up to eight years of imprisonment and “illegal border crossing” punishable by up to five years of imprisonment, respectively).

Alexander Lapshin’s extradition order was issued on 17 January and on 26 January his appeal was rejected by the Minsk City Court. He was extradited only hours after his appeal to the Supreme Court of Belarus was considered and rejected on 7 February.

The accusations against him relate to his repeated visits to Azerbaijan’s breakaway territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, in 2011 and.

Amnesty International said it is “not aware of any other cases of extradition requests being made by the Azerbaijani authorities against individuals who have entered Nagorno-Karabakh without their permission. However, there are numerous individuals who have visited the territory without permission from the Azerbaijani authorities and been “blacklisted” by Azerbaijan – put on an official list of offenders who will be permanently refused entry to Azerbaijan.”

Amnesty International takes the view that the extradition and charges against Alexander Lapshin are a means of targeting him principally in connection with his blogs, in particular his criticism of the Azerbaijani border control system and the country’s social inequality. The charge of “public appeals against the state” has no legal basis, as the criticism of the Azerbaijani authorities in his blog falls entirely within the scope of his right to freedom of expression. With regard to the criminal charge of illegal border crossing, the organization maintains that irregular entry should not be treated as a criminal offence. As such, Amnesty International considers that his detention is arbitrary and calls for the criminal proceedings against Alexander Lapshin to be terminated. He should be released immediately.

Concerns were raised regarding the conditions of Alexander Lapshin’s detention in Belarus where he was held at the pre-trial detention center (SIZO) #1 in Minsk. He is also at risk of torture and other ill-treatment while in custody in Azerbaijan. Two days after Alexander Lapshin’s arrival and detention in Baku, he has been refused permission to contact his wife.

Amnesty International has documented numerous cases where individuals who criticized or otherwise publicly challenged the Azerbaijani authorities were arbitrarily arrested and sentenced to imprisonment following unfair trials, and in many cases tortured and otherwise ill-treated in custody. The Azerbaijani authorities have persistently failed to investigate allegations of torture and other ill-treatment and the Azerbaijani courts have on numerous occasions admitted as evidence “confessions” obtained under torture.

“In extraditing Alexander Lapshin to Azerbaijan, where he is at risk of torture and other ill-treatment, amongst other human rights violations, the Belarusian authorities have failed to adhere to their obligations under international human rights law,” the Amnesty said.

Belarus ratified the UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1998, according to which “no State Party shall expel, return or extradite a person to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture.”

 

 

 

Ex-Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan, ex-Foreign Ministers Raffi Hovhannisyan and Vardan Oskanian signed a memorandum on forming an alliance ahead of the forthcoming parliamentary elections.

“Seyran Ohanyan, Raffi Hovhannisyan and Vardan Oskanyan are combining efforts to form a government of new quality with a view of implementing reforms in the country,” Vice President of the Heritage Party Armen Martirisayn said in his opening remarks before the singing of the memorandum.

“This is a union that brings together the experience in state governance and the vision of implementation of joint programs,” Martirosyan said.

According to him, the state and public interests will be at the core of cooperation.

The alliance will be open to all political forces, NGOs and civilian initiatives willing to cooperate.

“The Kurdish Voice of Radio Yerevan” – a book by Zeri Inanc has been published in Turkey, reports.

The book tells about the role of Public Radio of Armenia (or Radio Yerevan as the Kurds call it) in the preservation of the Kurdish language and culture.

“The Public Radio has played an immense role in the preservation of the Kurdish identity and cultural legacy,” author Zeri Inanc said in an interview with “Agos.” His studies reveal that over 10.000 recordings of Kurdish folk songs, once prohibited in Turkey, are kept in he archives of the Public Radio.

“Every Kurd who has been listening to Kurdish programs thanks to Radio Yerevan has much to tell,” Zeri Inanc said.

According to him, Radio Yerevan is a common memory for Kurds deprived of the opportunity to get education in their native language.

Lebanon’s Minister of Tourism, Avedis Guidanian, emphasized on Sunday the importance of respecting the specificity of the Armenian community when dealing with the issue of a new electoral law that preserves the equity of representation, Lebanon’s reports.

Speaking to the Voice of Lebanon Radio, Guidanian said that the new electoral law would be approved by the majority of politicians.

The Minister stressed the importance of parliamentary elections, hoping that the Armenian deputies would get elected by Armenian votes.

He noted that Armenians have been marginalized over the past 25 years.

He also called on all politicians to issue an electoral law that ensures equity in representation to all Lebanese components.

“I warn against setting up new (electoral) divisions at the expense of Armenians,” he went on.

Guidanian said that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation would participate in the parliamentary elections whether the electoral law adopted was proportional or majoritarian.

Photo: Sputnik/Sergey Pyatakov

 

The chief of the Georgian Orthodox Church Patriarchate’s Property Management Service, priest Georgy Mamaladze has been detained on charges of plotting the murder of a church hierarch, Georgian Chief Prosecutor Irakly Shotadze said Monday, reports.

The Rustavi 2 TV company reported Sunday about a possible attempt to poison Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II. According to the report, Mamaladze was detained at Tbilisi airport on Friday night, later he was arrested.

“Georgy Mamaladze had a systematic relationship with the Catholicos-Patriarch and his entourage. The investigation established that Mamaladze had been preparing the murder of a person and that was why he had bought from an unknown person the poisonous substance cyanide,” Shotadze told reporters.

The chief prosecutor added that the detained official of the Georgian patriarchate had planned to take the poisonous substance to Germany, where Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II is undergoing treatment.

Tensions were high at the line of contact between the armed forces of Nagorno Karabakh and Azerbaijan last night, the NKR Defense Ministry reports.

The rival used D-44 cannons, mortars, grenades and firearms of different calibers as it violated the ceasefire 80 times, firing over 950 shots in the direction of the Armenian positions.

The front divisions of the NKR Defense Army follow the developments at the line of contact and take necessary measures to pressure the activeness of the rival.

The Court in Cologne has banned the Allianz Deutscher Demokraten (Alliance of German Democrats) Party, TRT reports.

The Court has justified the decision with the similarity of the party logo with the logo of the right-wing AfD party, which could lead to confusion in the vote.

The Alliance of German Democrats was founded 7 months ago by entrepreneur Remzi Aru, lawyer Ramazan Akbas and Halil Ertem to prevent the adoption of the Armenian Genocide reolution adopted by the German Bundestag.