Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Yerevan Press Club Weekly Newsletter - 06/11/2009

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Yerevan Press Club Weekly Newsletter - 06/11/2009

    YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

    JUNE 5-11, 2009

    HIGHLIGHTS:

    "PRESS CLUB" CYCLE: SUMMING UP THE ELECTIONS TO YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERLY

    RA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER'S ACTIVITIES BY ARMENIAN MEDIA

    SUIT OF LEVON KOCHARIAN VERSUS "HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK" FOUNDER PARTIALLY SECURED

    HEARINGS ON THE CASE OF ASSAULT AGAINST THE HEAD OF "INVESTIGATIVE
    JOURNALISTS" NGO STARTED


    "PRESS CLUB" CYCLE: SUMMING UP THE ELECTIONS TO YEREVAN COUNCIL OF ELDERLY

    On June 6 the final "Press Club" show, dealing with the elections of Yerevan
    Council of Elderly, went on the air of "Yerkir Media" TV company. The guests
    of the program host, YPC President Boris Navasardian were political observer
    of "Aravot" daily Anna Israelian, the Deputy Director of Transparency
    International Anti-Corruption Center Varuzhan Oktanian, politologist Ervand
    Bozoyan. The program participants summed up the elections to the Yerevan
    Council of Elderly, held on May 31, 2009.

    The "Press Club" cycle was produced under Yerevan Press Club project,
    supported by the Open Society Institute.

    RA HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER'S ACTIVITIES BY ARMENIAN MEDIA

    On June 5-7 in Aghveran a seminar was held on "The Coverage of the
    Activities of the RA Human Rights Defender's Institute by Armenian Media".
    The event was organized by Yerevan Press Club with the assistance of
    Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Representatives of media, journalistic and human
    rights NGOs took part in the seminar.

    The Head of the Public Relations and Information Department of RA Human
    Rights Defender, Grigori Grigoriants told about the cooperation between the
    ombudsman and media. The Chairman of Helsinki Committee of Armenia Avetik
    Ishkhanian introduced to the human rights situation in Armenia. The speech
    of RA Human Rights Defender Armen Harutiunian dealt with media coverage of
    the ombudsman's reports. YPC President Boris Navasardian summarized the
    trends of the ombudsman's institute coverage by the Armenian media, based on
    the monitoring findings implemented by Yerevan Press Club on March-April
    2009. The reports of the Head of the Civil Society Institute Artak
    Kirakosian and the Advisor to the Human Rights Defender on Military and
    Military Servicemen Issues Alexander Avetisian were on the cooperation
    between human rights organizations and the ombudsman.

    SUIT OF LEVON KOCHARIAN VERSUS "HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK" FOUNDER PARTIALLY SECURED

    On June 5 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
    communities of Yerevan read out the decision on the suit to protect the
    honor and the dignity of Levon Kocharian, younger son of RA Second President
    Robert Kocharian, against the founder of "Haykakan Zhamanak" daily,
    "Dareskizb" LLC. As it has been reported, the court hearings of the suit had
    started on April 23, 2009. The reason of the lawsuit was the editorial "The
    Adventures of Robert's Son in Dubai", published in "Haykakan Zhamanak" on
    February 6, 2009. The piece informed about Levon Kocharian's detention by
    police of Dubai, UAE, in the end of 2008. The plaintiff demanded to oblige
    the daily to publish a refutation and to compensate for moral losses in the
    amount of 16 million and 120 thousand AMD, about $ 43.500 (see YPC Weekly
    Newsletter, April 17-23, 2009).

    The court partially secured the demands of the suit, by obliging the
    newspaper to publish a refutation, to pay off a sum of 3 million and 620
    thousand AMD, and to compensate the sue charges of 72 thousand AMD. As YPC
    was informed by "Haykakan Zhamanak", the founder of the daily intends to
    appeal the decision with the upper court jurisdiction.

    HEARINGS ON THE CASE OF ASSAULT AGAINST THE HEAD OF "INVESTIGATIVE
    JOURNALISTS" NGO STARTED

    On June 4 court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash
    communities of Yerevan started the hearings on the case of assault on the
    Head of "Investigative Journalists" NGO Edik Baghdasarian. As it has been
    reported, on November 17, 2008 having left the building, where the
    "Investigative Journalists" office is located, Edik Baghdasarian headed
    towards his car when he was assaulted by three strangers. The offenders
    started beating the journalist, struck him with a stone on his head. Edik
    Baghdasarian was taken to the hospital and diagnosed with brain concussion.
    Kentron Police Department of Yerevan instituted criminal proceedings on the
    incident (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, November 20-27, 2008 and November
    14-19, 2008). The charge on Article 258 of RA Criminal Code ("Public
    disorder") was brought with Karen Harutiunian, who appeared in court as one
    of the assaulters of Edik Baghdasarian.

    Meanwhile, the piece about the beginning of litigation, published on the
    same day in "Hetq", online-publication of "Investigative Journalists", was
    emphasized: "The law enforcement bodies, however, did not reveal the other
    two with whom 20 years old Karen Harutiunian made the attack (...), and the
    client of this crime. K.Harutiunian not only denied his involvement in the
    incident but refused to give evidence, either. Nevertheless, the
    investigation took the charges pressed against him for granted (...)."

    At the session of June 4, the court examined the victim and the part of the
    witnesses. During the court hearings of June 10 Karen Harutiunian did not
    plead guilty. The prosecution demanded to sentence the criminal to five and
    a half year of imprisonment. The next session is assigned on June 19.


    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
Working...
X