Epress.am News from Armenia
At yesterday’s meeting of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), a working document was presented by several Assembly members titled on “the Armenian Law on Television and Radio.”
Written Declaration No 457 particularly states:
“The Armenian Law on Television and Radio negatively impedes pluralism in the media and limits the freedom of information.
“The changes to the Armenian Law on Television and Radio, which were proposed by the government and were adopted during a special session of the Armenian National Assembly on 10 June 2010, only expand state control over television and radio broadcasting.
“Opposition parties, the Assembly Monitoring Committee’s co-rapporteurs on Armenia and the OSCE clearly criticize the aforementioned changes.
“The undersigned hereby note that the changes in the above-mentioned law are aimed at obstructing the 2008 decision of the European Court of Human Rights which criticized the Armenian Government for its closure of the independent A1+ television station limiting and reducing the number of television stations and restricting the broadcast airwaves for new television companies.
“The changes will result in further abuse of this law, including:
– an unclearly defined licensing system for satellite transmission, cellular phone messaging and Internet broadcasting;
– the imposition of restrictive licensing requirements;
– granting courts sweeping powers over broadcasting licenses and unjustified limitations on freedom of the media.
“Considering it unacceptable that the Armenian Government’s changes to the Law on Television and Radio resulted in a flagrant abuse of media freedoms, we demand that the authorities modify the law within a reasonable time-frame, in conformity with international standards and that the opposition is allowed to participate in the process.”
Thirty-four deputies signed the document, including PACE members from Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Spain, and Switzerland.
Note that the only Armenian member who signed was Armen Rustamyan.