Epress.am News from Armenia
The documents A1+ submitted for Armenia’s broadcast licensing competition this year, concerning funding provided by third parties (either individuals or organizations), are obviously falsified and we didn’t need to contact Meltex (the company that represents A1+) prior to the competition, since that which is obvious needs no explanation, said National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR) Chair Grigor Amalyan, responding to a question by a journalist today as to why the commission didn’t contact Meltex for clarification on the documents in question.
Recall that one week ago, Amalyan had said that there were obvious false documents in the claim submitted by Meltex LLC for its business program confirming the financial assistance of British company Hobbington Management Ltd. and Belize company Rogeston Logistics Ltd. Amalyan announced that, according to competent institutions in these countries, these companies don’t exist.
“What should we have done, said, take it, bring us documents that are not fake? As for foreign organizations, we have already appealed to the RA Ministry of Foreign Affairs and received a reply, which was formally sent to Meltex LLC. There’s only one thing I don’t understand: why are they misleading the public?” asked Amalyan.
Recall that A1+ was deprived of its broadcasting license in April 2002. The TV company had further taken part in all the broadcast licensing competitions, but every time its bids were scored lower by Armenia’s NCTR than those of its competitors.
On June 17, 2008, the European Court of Human Rights released its judgment on the case of the founder of A1+ TV company, Meltex LLC, and its President Mesrop Movsisyan vs Republic of Armenia. In the ECHR ruling, the refusals to grant a broadcast license to Meltex LLC were recognized to be a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, that is, of the right of the applicant to freely impart information and ideas.