Friday 20 June 2008

ARMENIAN NEWS


European Court Judges in Favor of Closed Armenian TV
By Karine Kalantarian
17 June 2008

A Strasbourg-based court has found the Armenian authorities at fault for
repeatedly refusing to issue a broadcasting license to a television
station, A1 Plus, that was controversially taken off the air in 2002 and
has not been allowed to resume its work ever since.

In a press release issued by its Registrar on Tuesday, the European
Court of Human Rights said it had held unanimously that there had been a
violation of Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European
Convention on Human Rights concerning the Armenian authorities' refusal
to grant the applicants' requests for broadcasting licenses.

The Court also awarded the applicant company, Meltex Ltd, 20,000 euros
in respect of non-pecuniary damage and 10,000 euros for costs and
expenses.

The case concerned the applicants' complaint about being refused
broadcasting licenses on seven separate occasions.

A1 Plus, the only national channel that was not controlled by the
Armenian authorities, was taken off the air in April 2002 after losing
its broadcasting frequency in a tender that was administered by a
president-appointed regulatory body. The National Television and Radio
Commission (NTRC) did not provide clear reasons for its decision then
and has blocked all of the company's subsequent attempts to win another
frequency despite international pressure exerted on Yerevan.

The company's founding chairman Mesrop Movsesian wrote to the NTRC
requesting reasons for the refusals of Meltex's bids, but the NTRC
repeatedly replied that it only made decisions as to which was the best
company, following which it granted or refused broadcasting licenses.
Meltex brought several sets of proceedings in which it sought to have
those decisions annulled and complained about the NTRC's failure to give
written reasons for its decisions to refuse broadcasting licenses.
Ultimately, the Armenian courts dismissed Meltex's claims as unfounded,
finding that the calls for tenders concerning those seven bands had been
carried out in accordance with the law.

The Strasbourg-based Court that Meltex lodged an application with in
August 2004 found that the NRTC's refusal of Meltex's bids for
broadcasting licenses had effectively amounted to an `interference' with
their freedom to impart information and ideas.

The Court considered that `a procedure which did not require a licensing
body to justify its decisions did not provide adequate protection
against arbitrary interference by a public authority with the
fundamental right to freedom of expression.'

`The Court recalled the guidelines adopted by the Council of Europe's
Committee of Ministers in the domain of broadcasting regulation which
called for open and transparent application of the regulations governing
licensing procedures and specifically recommended that `[a]ll decisions
taken ... by the regulatory authorities ... be ... duly reasoned'.
Similarly, the Court pointed to a Resolution concerning Armenia by the
Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly of 27 January 2004 which had
concluded that `the vagueness of the law in force ha[d] resulted in the
[NTRC] being given outright discretionary powers,' the statement said.
The Court therefore concluded that the interference with Meltex's
freedom to impart information and ideas, namely having been refused a
broadcasting license on seven separate occasions, had not met the
requirement of lawfulness under the European Convention, in violation of
Article 10.

Since A1 Plus was controversially denied a new broadcasting license in
2002, New York-based watchdog Freedom House has ranked Armenia among
countries with not free media.

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A1+ CASE: "ARMENIA WON NOT DEFEATED"
Panorama.am
15:13 18/06/2008


"The decisions of the European Court of Human Rights should not be
considered as victories or defeats as every decision is aimed to help
and direct the State, officials and public representatives to make the
local legislations in line with the European standards," said Gevorg
Kostanyan, the Deputy Minister of Justice and the representative of
the RA Government in the European Court of Human Rights, in a press
conference, today.

In particular the deputy minister finds it inaccurate the announcements
of "Meltex" company about their victory. Remind that yesterday;
on June 17 the European Court of Human Rights upheld the case of
"Meltex" company vs. Republic of Armenia. The RA Commissioner in the
European Court of Human Rights said that the Republic of Armenia has
more gained in this case than it is defeated.

2 of 3 are declined

"We can state that RA is not defeated as they have appealed 3
demands and 2 of them are declined. The court upheld only 1 point
and registered a violation," said the Deputy Minister. According
to the appeal, the company notified that its freedom of speech and
independence and independent investigation are violated.

According to the European Court the right of independent investigation
of "Meltex" company is not violated and no restrictions are
conducted. According to the Court the right of freedom of expression is
violated as the National Committee of TV and Radio did not clarified
the subpoints of the decline. In this regard, the Deputy Minister
said that the decision will help the committee to be more accurate
in providing the basis of declines.

London gets its part

Mesrop Harutyunyan and "Meltex" company expected to get 1mln 500
thousands dollars for compensation from the RA. But in the result of
the RA Government negotiations the company will get EUR 30 thousands.

The company applied to the court to get financial, moral and advocate
expenses compensations, by the way, the company mentioned two types
of advocate service compensation - internal and international.

The European Court declined to affirm internal compensation and made a
decision that only international advocate service expenses should be
compensated. Note that the company's international advocate service
provider is "KJRP" company which presents the interests of Azeri
citizens in the court.

The Deputy Minister of Justice said that "Meltex" company has right
to take part in the tenders of getting broadcasting frequency.
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Ex-Prosecutor Charged with `Usurpation of Power'
By Hovannes Shoghikian

Investigators conducting the criminal case in connection with the mass
disturbances of March 1-2 have dropped the charge of `illegal arms
possession' against former Deputy Prosecutor-General Gagik Jahangirian,
but added a graver charge of `usurpation of power' to his indictment
that also includes putting up resistance to law-enforcement officers,
both Jahangirian's legal aides and Prosecutor-General's Office
spokeswoman Sona Truzian confirmed to RFE/RL on Monday.

Jahangirian's lawyers express their perplexity over the circumstance
that it took the investigation body four months to admit that the gun
carried by Jahangirian was in fact legal.

They say this decision is more evidence that Gagik Jahangirian is `being
a victim of political persecution for having a speech at an opposition
rally.'

Jahangirian publicly defied the government as he delivered a fiery
speech at a rally held by opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian on
February 22, three days after Armenia's disputed presidential election.
He said that the vote was blatantly rigged and referred to Ter-Petrosian
as its rightful winner.

Jahangirian was sacked as deputy prosecutor-general and arrested the
next evening along with his brother Vartan. A car carrying the two men
was ambushed and stopped by a special police unit just outside Yerevan.
The police said they were armed and planned to `destabilize the
situation in the capital.'

In another development, a criminal court in Yerevan on Monday changed
the measure of restriction against Jahangirian's brother and decided to
release him from pretrial detention on a written pledge that he would
not leave the city's boundaries. The court made the decision considering
his bad health condition.

Vartan Jahangirian was shot and seriously wounded by a police officer
during the arrest in still unclear circumstances. The police say the
shooting was accidental. Vartan Jahangirian is accused of putting up
resistance to law-enforcers.

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115 HOTELS AND HOTEL-TYPE FACILITIES OPERATED IN ARMENIA IN 2007 AS COMPARED WITH 95 IN 2006
Noyan Tapan
June 17, 2008

YEREVAN, JUNE 17, NOYAN TAPAN. There were 115 hotels and hotel-type
facilities in Armenia in 2007 - against 95 in 2006 and 76 in
2005. Their number in Yerevan made 46 in 2007 - against 44 in 2006
and 31 in 2005.

According to the RA National Statistical Service, the index of hotels'
being occupied made 638,244 day-places - against 595,335 in 2006
and 452,555 in 2005. The same indices with respect to Yerevan made
441,429, 434,512 and 393,849. The simultaneous capacity of hotels and
hotel-type lodgings made 8,376 places in 2007 - against 7,372 in 2006
and 6,873 in 2005, the same indices with respect to Yerevan made 3,672,
4,161 and 3,056 respectively.

The average annual number of employees in the hotels of Armenia made
1,917 in 2007, 1,736 in 2006 and 1,711 in 2005, the same indices with
respect to Yerevan made 1,292, 1,359 and 1,308 respectively.

The total incomes of the country's hotels amounted to 12 bln 47.6
mln drams or more than 35,2 mln USD in 2007 (10 bln 8.2 mln drams in
Yerevan) - against 10 bln 632.2 mln drams in 2006 (8.7 bln drams in
Yerevan), and 10 bln 77.5 mln drams in 2005 (8 bln 537.3 mln drams
in Yerevan). Their current expenditures made 9 bln 552,1 mln drams
(7 bln 480.6 mln drams), 8 bln 326.8 mln drams (6 bln 208.3 mln drams)
and 8 bln 163.6 mln drams (6 bln 657.7 mln drams) respectively.

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NOURITZA MATOSSIAN'S "HEART OF TWO NATIONS" CHOSEN FOR SCREENING AT GOLDEN APRICOT FILM FESTIVAL
Gibrahayer
June 18, 2008

Gibrahayer - Nicosia -June Armenian Cypriot writer Nouritza Matossian's
"Heart of Two Nations" has been chosen for screening at the Golden
Apricot Film Festival. The documentary is about assassinated Armenian
journalist Hrant Dink and his interviews with Nouritza Matossian.

The Golden Apricot Film festival will take place in Yerevan between
13-21 July in Yerevan.

Nouritza Matossian is a writer, actress, broadcaster and human rights
activist. She writes on the arts, contemporary music, history and
Armenia.

Matossian published the first biography and critical study of the Greek
composer Iannis Xenakis, the source book on his life, architecture and
music based on ten years' collaboration with him. She later adapted
it into a 50-minute documentary for BBC2, entitled Something Rich
and Strange.

Matossian's 1998 book Black Angel, A Life of Arshile Gorky was written
after twenty years' research. Ararat, the award-winning film by Atom
Egoyan and Miramax, was partly inspired by Black Angel. She acted
as consultant to Egoyan who modelled the female lead role Ani on
her. Matossian also wrote and performs a solo show on Gorky's life from
the viewpoint of his four beloved women with images and music. It has
been produced worldwide over 80 times at venues including the Barbican,
Tate Modern, London, New York, Los Angeles, the Edinburgh Festival,
Cyprus, Paris, Lebanon, Iran, Romania and Georgia. In Armenia she
performed it simultaneously in two languages.

Matossian broadcasts on the BBC and contributes to several newspapers
and magazines, including The Independent, The Guardian, The Economist,
and The Observer. She was Honorary Cultural Attache for the Armenian
Embassy in London from 1991-2000.

She spent her childhood in Cyprus with her Armenian family. Educated
in England, she graduated with Honours in Philosophy (B. Phil) from
Bedford College, University of London, then studied music, theatre
and mime in Dartington and Paris; she has a command of nine languages.

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