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.”<\/p>\n
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Written Declaration No 457 particularly states:<\/p>\n
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“The Armenian Law on Television and Radio negatively impedes pluralism in the media and limits the freedom of information.<\/p>\n
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“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.<\/p>\n
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“Opposition parties, the Assembly Monitoring Committee\u2019s co-rapporteurs on Armenia and the OSCE clearly criticize the aforementioned changes.<\/p>\n
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“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.<\/p>\n
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“The changes will result in further abuse of this law, including:<\/p>\n
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– an unclearly defined licensing system for satellite transmission, cellular phone messaging and Internet broadcasting;<\/p>\n
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– the imposition of restrictive licensing requirements;<\/p>\n
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– granting courts sweeping powers over broadcasting licenses and unjustified limitations on freedom of the media.<\/p>\n
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“Considering it unacceptable that the Armenian Government\u2019s 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.”<\/p>\n
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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.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Note that the only Armenian member who signed was Armen Rustamyan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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