Epress.am News from Armenia
On Mar. 10, an international group of journalists and film producers heading to Armenia for an international documentary project was stopped at Yerevan’s Zvartnots International Airport by Armenian border security guards with no explanations. Later, all members of the group were denied entry visas to Armenia. The group was comprised of Finnish, Lithuanian and Estonian filmmakers working on a documentary film project called “Souls of the Ghost Town” on the difficult path of conflict resolution in the war-affected Caucuses, according to a release issued by the project’s executive co-producer, PC “TV Komanda” producer Andrius Brokas, and disseminated by the Lithuanian Journalists’ Union.
In Armenia the filmmaking consortium was to conduct face-to-face interviews with officials as well as peace-makers under the general theme of “Armenia: Past, Present and Future” dispatched by “YLE,” the national Finnish broadcasting company. The production is part of a larger documentary project which includes independent research of the Khojaly mass killings. The project was intended to present a balanced approach through the eyes of witnesses and people involved in the conflict on both sides, as well as independent international observers.
Brokas reported that group members are still in Yerevan airport: “despite several attempts by crew members to receive any plausible explanations, the only response they received was that ‘these surnames are unacceptable to Armenia’.” According to Mr. Brokas, after involving diplomatic representatives of all three countries of the group members, Armenia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ministry described the group as “unwanted in Armenia.”
The line producer of the documentary Mindaugas Urbonavicius locked in the no-cross zone in the Yerevan Airport reported to say that “the filmmaking group was simply stopped at the border check and told that they could not enter Armenia. It is already 18 hours that we are locked in the transit zone of the airport, our luggage is still not returned to us, our moves are being monitored by officials in civilian attire. We have felt an odd aggressiveness on the part of airport authorities and a strange wall of silence. We felt things might have been worse if not for the involvement of the Lithuanian Ambassador. After his visit we have just been told that luggage will be returned. However, many hours have passed and our baggage, including film equipment, has not been returned to us.”
Ms. Tiina Madisson (journalist and the director’s 2nd director) claimed that the “possible motive of the unwelcome behavior by Armenian authorities might be associated with the filmmaking group’s intention to interview former president of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian, now in opposition.” We didn’t make any secret of our intentions. The letter requesting meeting with different representatives of Armenia society including Levon Ter-Petrossian have been sent to the Armenian partner in the production well in advance of our trip.
Andrius Brokas, describing the incident from Helsinki where he constantly connected to his colleagues now in Yerevan, noted that such kind of treatment of independent international media representatives runs against Armenia’s own commitment to respect freedom of speech under OSCE and Council of Europe membership.
“It also drops the shadow on widely publicized claims by Armenian authorities to discuss the tragedy of Khojaly in an open and transparent manner. It is doubly strange that such treatment to citizens of EU member countries (which constitutes an open defiance of European values of open access to information) appear just days before the visit to the region by Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Minster Mr. Audronius Azubalis, currently head of OSCE.
“The consortium will make its best to release our colleagues out from the difficult situation they are trapped into with dignity and safety. We will further investigate this incident and continue our mission to support peacemaking movement in the Caucuses and contributing to it with our creative messages,” stated Brokas on behalf of the filmmaking consortium.