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YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 6, 2008
HIGHLIGHTS:
"PRESS CLUB" AND "PRESS CLUB+": CIVIL SERVICE AND YEREVAN STATUS
MEO DECISION ON "ARAVOT" ARTICLE THAT BECAME A COURT TRIAL SUBJECT
COURT OF GENERAL JURISDICTION RULING ON THE DISPUTE OF "GALA" TV COMPANY
FOUNDER VERSUS GYUMRI MUNICIPALITY ABOLISHED
"PRESS CLUB" AND "PRESS CLUB+": CIVIL SERVICE AND YEREVAN STATUS
On November 5 another show of "Press Club" cycle went on air of "Yerkir
Media" TV company. It is produced by Yerevan Press Club with support of the
Open Society Institute Human Rights and Governance Grants Program. The
guests of the "Press Club" host, the YPC President Boris Navasardian, were
Chairman of the RA Civil Service Council Manvel Badalian, Chief Editor of
"Aravot" daily Aram Abrahamian and Co-Chair of the International Association
of Social Scientists "Yerevan Academy" Vardan Gevorgian. Subjects of
discussion were the principles and practice of civil service.
The next program of "Press Club" cycle will be aired by "Yerkir Media" on
Wednesday, November 12, at 23.00.
On November 1 another show of "Press Club+" cycle went on air of "Yerkir
Media". It is produced by Yerevan Press Club with support of the Embassy of
Great Britain in Armenia. Program host, the YPC President Boris Navasardian
and "Press Club+" participants, Political Council member of "Republic" party
Suren Sureniants and the President of Communal Financiers Association Vahan
Movsisian discussed the issue of the status of Yerevan in the context of
draft law "On Local Self-Administration and Territorial Government in
Yerevan", approved by the RA National Assembly in the first reading in
December 2007. The audience composed of representatives of Yerevan NGOs and
students of Department of Journalism of Yerevan State University also
participated in the talk-show.
The next program of "Press Club+" cycle will be aired by "Yerkir Media" on
Saturday, November 8, at 17.40.
MEO DECISION ON "ARAVOT" ARTICLE THAT BECAME A COURT TRIAL SUBJECT
On October 31 Media Ethics Observatory rendered an expert judgment on the
article "If Your Neighbor is a Policeman", published in "Aravot" daily on
June 25, 2008. As it has been reported, the article became a subject of a
court trial between "Aravot" and Arthur Ghevondian, RA police officer, who
demanded to induce publishing a refutation of the information which, in his
opinion, discredits his honor and reputation. During the hearings starting
on October 21 in the Civil Court of Yerevan the defendant motioned that the
plaintiff point out specific words or expressions in the piece considered as
discrediting his honor and reputation (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, October
17-23, 2008). On October 22 Arthur Ghevondian provided the necessary
clarifications. On October 24 the author of the piece, "Aravot"
Correspondent Ruzan Minasian, in her turn, applied to MEO to receive an
expert judgment on the article.
Analyzing the piece "If Your Neighbor is a Policeman", MEO concluded that
"there are no obvious violations of Code of Conduct and of international
standards". At the same time, MEO judgment stressed, one phrase arose some
doubt: "(...) Ghevondian, making use of his police connections (...)",
which, according to the author of the article, is based on witness evidence,
but as it was not followed by an appropriate reference, it was perceived as
the author's words. Besides, the expressions disputed by the plaintiff as
"data discrediting his honour and reputation" and "factual inaccuracies", in
the opinion of MEO, "are not facts but conclusions or evaluating opinions,
based on the facts containing in the article". The judgment stresses that
neither the truth of this conclusions nor their agreement to reality can be
proved, and brings one of the clauses of the decision of European Court on
Human Rights on the case of "Lingens vs. Austria" as an example.
The MEO judgment also states that, "Some acute expressions are also used in
the article, which reflect the stereotypes rooted in the society, but they
either cannot be viewed as an insult from the point of view of professional
journalist ethics."
Media Ethics Observatory was formed on March 10, 2007 by the heads of
Armenian media who supported the YPC self-regulation initiative (see YPC
Weekly Newsletter, March 9-15, 2007). Its mission consists in considering
the complaints-appeals regarding the violation of the Code of Conduct of
Media Representatives and giving its opinion on them. Currently the Code of
Conduct and its addendum, the Declaration on Election and Referendum
Coverage Principles, are signed by heads of 31 media. The initiative is also
supported by 8 journalistic associations.
COURT OF GENERAL JURISDICTION RULING ON THE DISPUTE OF "GALA" TV COMPANY
FOUNDER VERSUS GYUMRI MUNICIPALITY ABOLISHED
On October 31 RA Court of Cassation abolished the ruling of court of general
jurisdiction of Shirak region on dispute between Gyumri municipality and
founder of "Gala" TV company of Gyumri, "CHAP" LLC. As it has been reported,
on February 29 the court of general jurisdiction of Shirak region obliged
"CHAP" LLC to stop the use of the city TV tower and dissemble the equipment
installed. The founder of "GALA" challenged this ruling in RA Civil Court of
Appeals, which on April 14, 2008 left it in force (see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, February 29 - March 6, 2008, and April 11-17, 2008).
At the same time "CHAP" challenged to the Court of Cassation one more
decision, announced by RA Administrative Court on March 19, 2008, on the
dispute with Gyumri Tax Inspection. According to this ruling, founder of
"Gala" was obliged to pay into the state budget tax debts and fines,
exceeding the amount of 25 million drams (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, March
14-20, 2008). The debt was discharged, while "CHAP" applied to the Court of
Cassation. Nevertheless, the complaint was dismissed.
When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.
You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]
Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]
Editor of YPC Newsletter - Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
_____________________________________ _______
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: www.ypc.am
OCTOBER 31 - NOVEMBER 6, 2008
HIGHLIGHTS:
"PRESS CLUB" AND "PRESS CLUB+": CIVIL SERVICE AND YEREVAN STATUS
MEO DECISION ON "ARAVOT" ARTICLE THAT BECAME A COURT TRIAL SUBJECT
COURT OF GENERAL JURISDICTION RULING ON THE DISPUTE OF "GALA" TV COMPANY
FOUNDER VERSUS GYUMRI MUNICIPALITY ABOLISHED
"PRESS CLUB" AND "PRESS CLUB+": CIVIL SERVICE AND YEREVAN STATUS
On November 5 another show of "Press Club" cycle went on air of "Yerkir
Media" TV company. It is produced by Yerevan Press Club with support of the
Open Society Institute Human Rights and Governance Grants Program. The
guests of the "Press Club" host, the YPC President Boris Navasardian, were
Chairman of the RA Civil Service Council Manvel Badalian, Chief Editor of
"Aravot" daily Aram Abrahamian and Co-Chair of the International Association
of Social Scientists "Yerevan Academy" Vardan Gevorgian. Subjects of
discussion were the principles and practice of civil service.
The next program of "Press Club" cycle will be aired by "Yerkir Media" on
Wednesday, November 12, at 23.00.
On November 1 another show of "Press Club+" cycle went on air of "Yerkir
Media". It is produced by Yerevan Press Club with support of the Embassy of
Great Britain in Armenia. Program host, the YPC President Boris Navasardian
and "Press Club+" participants, Political Council member of "Republic" party
Suren Sureniants and the President of Communal Financiers Association Vahan
Movsisian discussed the issue of the status of Yerevan in the context of
draft law "On Local Self-Administration and Territorial Government in
Yerevan", approved by the RA National Assembly in the first reading in
December 2007. The audience composed of representatives of Yerevan NGOs and
students of Department of Journalism of Yerevan State University also
participated in the talk-show.
The next program of "Press Club+" cycle will be aired by "Yerkir Media" on
Saturday, November 8, at 17.40.
MEO DECISION ON "ARAVOT" ARTICLE THAT BECAME A COURT TRIAL SUBJECT
On October 31 Media Ethics Observatory rendered an expert judgment on the
article "If Your Neighbor is a Policeman", published in "Aravot" daily on
June 25, 2008. As it has been reported, the article became a subject of a
court trial between "Aravot" and Arthur Ghevondian, RA police officer, who
demanded to induce publishing a refutation of the information which, in his
opinion, discredits his honor and reputation. During the hearings starting
on October 21 in the Civil Court of Yerevan the defendant motioned that the
plaintiff point out specific words or expressions in the piece considered as
discrediting his honor and reputation (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, October
17-23, 2008). On October 22 Arthur Ghevondian provided the necessary
clarifications. On October 24 the author of the piece, "Aravot"
Correspondent Ruzan Minasian, in her turn, applied to MEO to receive an
expert judgment on the article.
Analyzing the piece "If Your Neighbor is a Policeman", MEO concluded that
"there are no obvious violations of Code of Conduct and of international
standards". At the same time, MEO judgment stressed, one phrase arose some
doubt: "(...) Ghevondian, making use of his police connections (...)",
which, according to the author of the article, is based on witness evidence,
but as it was not followed by an appropriate reference, it was perceived as
the author's words. Besides, the expressions disputed by the plaintiff as
"data discrediting his honour and reputation" and "factual inaccuracies", in
the opinion of MEO, "are not facts but conclusions or evaluating opinions,
based on the facts containing in the article". The judgment stresses that
neither the truth of this conclusions nor their agreement to reality can be
proved, and brings one of the clauses of the decision of European Court on
Human Rights on the case of "Lingens vs. Austria" as an example.
The MEO judgment also states that, "Some acute expressions are also used in
the article, which reflect the stereotypes rooted in the society, but they
either cannot be viewed as an insult from the point of view of professional
journalist ethics."
Media Ethics Observatory was formed on March 10, 2007 by the heads of
Armenian media who supported the YPC self-regulation initiative (see YPC
Weekly Newsletter, March 9-15, 2007). Its mission consists in considering
the complaints-appeals regarding the violation of the Code of Conduct of
Media Representatives and giving its opinion on them. Currently the Code of
Conduct and its addendum, the Declaration on Election and Referendum
Coverage Principles, are signed by heads of 31 media. The initiative is also
supported by 8 journalistic associations.
COURT OF GENERAL JURISDICTION RULING ON THE DISPUTE OF "GALA" TV COMPANY
FOUNDER VERSUS GYUMRI MUNICIPALITY ABOLISHED
On October 31 RA Court of Cassation abolished the ruling of court of general
jurisdiction of Shirak region on dispute between Gyumri municipality and
founder of "Gala" TV company of Gyumri, "CHAP" LLC. As it has been reported,
on February 29 the court of general jurisdiction of Shirak region obliged
"CHAP" LLC to stop the use of the city TV tower and dissemble the equipment
installed. The founder of "GALA" challenged this ruling in RA Civil Court of
Appeals, which on April 14, 2008 left it in force (see YPC Weekly
Newsletter, February 29 - March 6, 2008, and April 11-17, 2008).
At the same time "CHAP" challenged to the Court of Cassation one more
decision, announced by RA Administrative Court on March 19, 2008, on the
dispute with Gyumri Tax Inspection. According to this ruling, founder of
"Gala" was obliged to pay into the state budget tax debts and fines,
exceeding the amount of 25 million drams (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, March
14-20, 2008). The debt was discharged, while "CHAP" applied to the Court of
Cassation. Nevertheless, the complaint was dismissed.
When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.
You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]
Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]
Editor of YPC Newsletter - Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
_____________________________________ _______
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: www.ypc.am