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Tv Station Wins Freedom Of Expression Ruling

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  • Tv Station Wins Freedom Of Expression Ruling

    TV STATION WINS FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION RULING

    Media Helping Media
    Friday, 04 July 2008
    UK

    News and features - Europe

    Staff at A1+ in YerevanIn April 2002, the Armenian government took
    A1+ off the air. The station was the most watched independent TV news
    channel in Armenia at that time.

    When the A1+ signal ended, thousands gathered on the streets of
    Yerevan to protest. Those protests lasted for more than a week.

    It was a show of public support that convinced the A1+ director, Mesrop
    Movsesyan, that he must find other ways to continue delivering news
    to the people of Armenia. He said he knew then that the withdrawal of
    the licence didn't mean that his team of journalists had to be silent.

    "The sheer scale of the public protest, when ordinary people realised
    that freedom of expression was being attacked through the silencing
    of A1+, persuaded us that we had a duty to continue to operate as a
    news organisation, even though our transmitters had been turned off."

    Movsesyan set up a news agency, a newspaper and websites in Armenian,
    Russian and English, in order to continue to provide coverage of
    events in Yerevan and the rest of the country.

    TV news reports continued to be produced by A1+, but instead of being
    broadcast from Yerevan, they were distributed to affiliates in every
    region of the small, landlocked country. The affiliate network was
    unaffected by the government ruling that silenced A1+.

    Mesrop MovsesyanSince it lost its licence in 2002, A1+ has reapplied
    for a licence to broadcast a dozen times and each time it has been
    refused. In 2003, Movsesyan took the case to the European Court of
    Human Rights and a lengthy investigation followed.

    During that investigation, the Armenian government said A1+ lost its
    licence because it presented a poor application when the competition
    to broadcast took place. Ministers in Yerevan submitted evidence to
    the European Court to support the decision to close the TV station.

    Announcing the decision in favour of A1+, the Council of Europe
    Secretary General, Terry Davis, said it was "a victory for freedom
    of expression".

    He went on to explain that the ruling could have a wide-reaching
    impact.

    "It should also serve as a lesson to all governments inclined to
    arbitrary interpretations of Article 10 of the European Convention
    on Human Rights, which guarantees this essential freedom."

    The Council of Europe's Ministerial Committee will now monitor
    Armenia's implementation of the court decision.

    Movsesyan said the court decision merely provides grounds for the
    station to bid on available broadcast frequencies. A new tender is
    planned for the autumn, when the five-year licence term for a number
    of TV companies expires.
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