On May 30, 2022 during a protest organized by opposition forces near the RA Government Building 3, the police used brute force against “Iravunk” newspaper journalist Hrant Safaryan, hitting and throwing him on the ground. During the clashes, law enforcement officers also used force against “YerkirMedia.am” editor Vahe Sargsyan trying to detain him. Both journalists were there to cover the action and were performing their professional duties.
In spite of the fact that the police do not use batons, stun grenades, water cannons and other special means during the clashes, nevertheless, law enforcement officers do not refrain from using disproportionate force, in particular, violently obstructing the activities of media representatives. Whereas, the police are obliged to ensure safe work environment for journalists performing their professional duties.
Strongly condemning the attacks against media representatives, we, the undersigned journalistic organizations, demand from the RA Police:
to carry out an official investigation, identify and hold accountable the police officers that abused their power, and inform the public about it;
to take measures to ensure more professional actions by police officers, respect and tolerance for the professional duties of journalists and the safety of media representatives during mass events.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ” FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO GORIS PRESS CLUB “FEMIDA” NGO
On June 10, 2022 four National Security Service officers, without prior notice, broke into the office of Bagrat Yesayan, Director of “Yerkir Media” TV Company and member of the “ARF-Dashnaktsutyun” party Armenian Supreme Body, and arrested him. According to lawyer Vahe Yeprikyan, Bagrat Yesayan was charged with Article 38-225, Part 2 of the RA Criminal Code (violence, pogroms or arson, destruction or damage to property during a mass disorder) and Article 164, Part 1 (obstruction to the journalist’s legal professional activities or forcing the journalist to disseminate or refuse to disseminate information).
This charge is related to the the attack against the Yerevan Bureau of “Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty” on the night of November 10, 2020, which resulted in the institution of a criminal case. On the same day, we, the undersigned journalistic organizations, issued a statement expressing our indignation, condemning the harassment against the media and its employees. Nevertheless, taking note of the fact that Bagrat Yesayan, as a participant of the mentioned incident, did not hinder the preliminary investigation and did not avoid providing testimony, his detention and arrest are unacceptable. Especially when it has been carried out demonstratively, without prior notice on the premises of the media headed by Yesayan,.
In this regard, we welcome the June 11, 2022 decision of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan, which rejected the NSS motion for Bagrat Yesayan’s detention.
While reiterating our position that the attack against the Yerevan Bureau of RFE/RL on the night of November 10, 2020 is a highly reprehensible act with legal consequences, we nevertheless insist that a comprehensive and fully objective investigation of this incident should be conducted. Hence, we demand from the body carrying out the preliminary investigation to act strictly within the law, to steadfastly adhere to its letter and spirit, not giving any reason for political manipulation.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ” FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO GORIS PRESS CLUB “FEMIDA” NGO
June 21, 2022 is the deadline for the presentation of the draft law on making amendments and supplements to the Law “On Audiovisual Media” and adjacent laws, published on the official e-draft.am platform. As a matter of fact, this document has not received proper attention. So far, it has got 0 votes for and 0 against. Meanwhile, this legislative initiative authored by the RA Ministry of High-Tech Industry in partnership with the Commission on Television and Radio, the Council of the Public Broadcaster and the “Union of Operators of Armenia” NGO has caused deep concern among more than a dozen specialized journalistic organizations, both in terms of the content of the draft law, and the process of its development and presentation.
First of all, it is at least puzzling that the initiation and discussion of the idea of making such extensive changes and supplements to the RA Law “On Audiovisual Media” and the development of the draft itself were held without the knowledge and active engagement of the profile committee of the National Assembly. This is especially incomprehensible, given the fact that with this initiative changes are envisaged not only in the above-mentioned law, but also in 7 other laws related to the field, including the main law “On Mass Communication”, which regulates the activities of media.
Added to that, the process has not in any way engaged journalistic NGOs, among which there are organizations that have been dealing with broadcasting issues for decades, have conducted numerous researches, have studied international experience, have developed analyses, recommendations and draft laws.
Finally, it is unacceptable, for example, to include provisions related to journalistic ethics in the draft law without consulting the organizations that are the initiators and advocates of the development of the professional code of ethics and introduction of media self-regulation in Armenia. In general, there are so many content-related defects and omissions in the draft law that it is not possible to address them within this statement. Nevertheless, let us mention a few: in particular, it is not clear why part 4 of paragraph 5 of Article 1 is removed from the Law “On Audiovisual Media”, which, in fact, excludes from regulations the TV companies using private multiplex slots. Is it because the authors of the draft law are sure that no private network of terrestrial digital broadcasting will be formed and operate in the country? Or, when there is a compulsion to clearly separate facts from opinions in TV programs, which is primarily a self-regulation issue, will the CTR be able to identify all violations of this requirement from the enormous information flow and hold their authors accountable? Of course not. It opens up wide opportunities for subjectivity, arbitrariness and selective approaches, which is unacceptable. The same can be said about the requirement to publish only reliable facts. Let us once again note that there are a number of such provisions.
The development and presentation of the above-mentioned draft law, along with its content, also contradict a key process initiated by the RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport, the RA Ministry of Justice and 11 journalistic organizations, according to which joint efforts should be made to prepare a concept of information field development and media legislation reforms, and the fundamental principles included in that document should serve the development and adoption of new laws complying with contemporary international norms. A tripartite Memorandum of Cooperation in this regard was signed on April 19, 2022.
It is apparent that without a comprehensive concept, such extensive legislative changes are pointless and inefficient, moreover, they will continue the vicious practice of patching gaps in media legislation.
Based on the above-mentioned, we call on:
– the HTI Ministry to revoke the package of draft laws submitted on the official e-draft.am platform, to hold professional open discussions with interested state and public organizations aimed at improving the legislative regulations of the broadcasting sector;
– the RA NA Standing Committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport and the Ministry of Justice, while sticking to the provisions of the Memorandum of Cooperation with journalistic organizations, to work with the HTI Ministry, so that the implementation of the proposed changes in the Law “On Audiovisual Media” be in compliance with the processes envisaged by the Memorandum, in line with the principles of the concept currently under development.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ” FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO GORIS PRESS CLUB “FEMIDA” NGO
On May 2, 2022 during the disobedience actions organized by opposition forces in Yerevan the professional activities of a number of media representatives were hindered.
In particular, at the intersection of Proshyan and Baghramyan streets Sargis Hovhannisyan, head of the country’s State Protection Service, first behaved aggressively towards “Mediahub.am” correspondent Nare Gnuni by hitting the microphone in her hand, and then kicked the cameraman of the same website Arman Gharajyan and damaged the camera.
As a result of a clash between the police and citizens at the intersection of Sayat-Nova-Abovyan streets, “Yerkir.am” correspondent Lia Sargsyan started to feel bad and was given first aid.
On Heratsi street, the police officers punched “AntiFake.am” journalist Davit Fidanyan on the shoulder and obstructed his work, while Ishkhan Khosrovyan, another journalist of the same website, was shoved at the intersection of Khanjyan-Sayat-Nova streets.
We, the undersigned journalistic organizations, restate that amid any aggravation of the socio-political situation in the country, the attacks and pressures on journalists and cameramen increase as well. This is also often the result of a lack of professionalism by law enforcement officers and inability to communicate politely with people, including media representatives.
Strongly condemning the law enforcement officers’ attacks against journalists and cameramen performing their professional duties during mass protests, we demand from the government:
– to initiate an official investigation and hold accountable State Protection Service head Sargis Hovhannisyan and his subordinates who exceeded their power;
– to give appropriate instructions to SPS and the police so that the latter do not violate the rights of media representatives through their actions and treat them respectfully.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ” FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO GORIS PRESS CLUB
More than 60 attendees – representatives of the RA Government, international community, civil society organizations learnt about the results of the studies on situation of labour rights protection in Armenia, real cases of labour rights violations, the impact of COVID-19 on labour rights in Armenia, the needs related to the labour rights in Armenia, and best practices of establishment of Trade Unions in European Union during an online event. The five studies were carried out by the member CSOs of the consortia of three projects funded by the European Union.
“In its permanent dialogue with the authorities and civil society, the EU stands by Armenia to improve and respect the labour rights. Labour law should not be seen as an obstacle to entrepreneurial freedom, but rather as a tool to facilitate social dialogue,” H.E. Ms. Andrea Wiktorin Ambassador, Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia said in her welcome speech. The event was attended by Ruben Sargsyan, Deputy Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of Armenia, and HakobAvagyan, Head of Health and Labor Inspection Body of Armenia who also welcomed the participants.
The studies revealed a number of problems related to the labour rights situation in Armenia. In particular, as a common conclusion, three of the studies – the “Research on the Situation of Labour Rights Protection in Armenia” (the full Report) the “Comprehensive Needs Assessment Research” and the “Evidence Collection on the Real Cases of Labour Rights Violations and Court Cases” indicated the problem of lack of awareness of the employees on their labour rights. All three researches include recommendations to act towards raising public awareness regarding benefits and entitlements upon separation, safeguards against arbitrary dismissal as well as available remedies in place, especially in marzes, for those employed in private business as well as among women to empower them to stand for their rights.
Other finding of the studies indicate that:
16․7% of the respondents do not have an employment contract;
6.8% of the respondents mentioned the existence of a high level of exposure to hazard factors in their workplace, and 79.2% of the respondents do not get any compensation if hazard factors exist in their workplace;
Only 15.2% of those who have ever expressed their dissatisfaction regarding working conditions to their employer, immediate supervisor or superior body had the relevant issue resolved as a result of expressing dissatisfaction, 45.8% had the issue partly resolved, while 35.6% did not reach any solution;
Only 28.3% of the respondents had trade unions in their workplace. The majority of the respondents (85.7%) mentioned that they had never united with colleagues against the employer in order to solve an issue or protect their labour rights;
Young people have difficulty in finding a suitable job due to lack of work experience, or they find a job with a very low salary. For 26% of the respondents, young age played a negative role in finding a job, and for about 50% of them, the absence or lack of work experience prevented them from finding the job they wanted;
Some women face obstacles while looking for a job or a change/promotion. For 22.7% of female respondents, being female played a decisive role when looking for a job or during a working activity, and for 52% of the latter, that role was negative.
The majority of organizations operating in both the public and private sectors in the Republic of Armenia do not yet have the necessary opportunities for the movement of the disabled, which is a big obstacle to hiring such people. Many employers simply avoid hiring people with disabilities, worrying that their health may often lead to absenteeism;
In Armenia people have very little information about labour protection and control structures. More than half of the respondents, 54%, do not know where to go in case of violation of labour rights;
The overwhelming majority of court cases related to labour rights were brought against the state- and municipality-owned organizations, such as schools, medical centers, universities, as well as ministries and municipalities as such. According to the data challenging the dismissals remain low in the private sector.
The CSOs forming the three consortia implementing the projects aimed to improve labour rights situation in Armenia came up with a decision to continue coordinated efforts in the sphere.
The full recording of the event is available HERE. All the studies will be published and shared with the stakeholders after finalization.
***
The three EU-funded projects on labour rights and social protection in Armenia
On February 22, 2022 together with the citizens protesting in the Republic Square of the capital against the visit of Azerbaijani MPs to Yerevan, the police also detained Ani Nahapetyan, correspondent of “Yerkir Media” TV Company. The latter was performing her professional duty and showed her press card when the incident happened. Later, at the police station, the law-enforcers took Ani Nahapetyan’s phone and deleted the footage she had taken inside the building. Along with other citizens, a criminal case was also initiated against the journalist under Article 258 (hooliganism) Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code. According to law enforcement, Ani Nahapetyan shouted profanities at the authorities, which, however, the journalist denied and, in her turn, reported a crime.
Although the police issued a clarification on the incident, claiming that “no one introduced him/herself as a media representative and did not show a relevant document”, we consider that argument groundless and unconvincing, as there is irrefutable evidence that both when being detained and at the police department she informed that she was a journalist. Nevertheless, she was released only after being held in the department for more than four hours.
We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn the improper actions taken against the journalist, including the illegal detention and obstruction of professional activities.
In this regard, we demand from the RA Police:
– to immediately quash the criminal case against Ani Nahapetyan;
– to carry out an official investigation, and hold accountable the police officers who abused their power;
– to take measures to prevent such attitude and actions towards journalists in the future.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ” FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO GORIS PRESS CLUB “FEMIDA” NGO
At the January 20, 2022 regular session of the RA National Assembly, Vahagn Aleksanyan, deputy from “Civil Contract” faction, referring to the activities of journalists of the TV companies and online platforms associated with political forces or politicians, called them “verbal prostitutes”. In fact, accusing them of spreading insult and hatred, the deputy himself used such words, moreover, he repeated them several times in his speech, further reaffirming these words at the January 21 session.
We, the undersigned journalistic organizations, strongly condemn this behavior and rhetoric of the representative of the ruling force, which apart from being unbefitting to the deputy status and related ethical norms, also create distrust in a politician who is called to develop laws, among other things aimed at countering insults and hatred and setting liability for their dissemination.
While being strictly critical of the current state of Armenian television, we state that in the last three years the government failed to realize its intention of “purging” it. Neither the legislative changes nor the legal practice were used for the reforms in the field. Instead, various representatives of the ruling force do not miss the opportunity to swagger and throw insults at private TV companies. Although the latter indeed mostly serve different political interests, this does not mean that instead of regulating the field, the authorities should insult the representatives of broadcast media.
We note that so far no member of “Civil Contract” party has criticized or at least expressed disagreement and regret about the irresponsible expression of their fellow party member. And this is another alarming precedent, which may deepen the existing polarization, intolerance and foul language use in the society.
Taking into consideration the above-mentioned, we demand:
the National Assembly to take immediate steps to form an ad hoc ethics committee, to discuss the behavior of deputy Vahagn Aleksanyan and adopt an appropriate decision;
“Civil Contract” party to publicly express a position and give an assessment of Vahagn Aleksanyan’s insult against journalists. The lack of assessment will be seen as a tacit approval and encouragement of such rhetoric by that political force;
Vahagn Aleksanyan to apologize to the journalistic community for the indecent and offensive remark and give assurances that it will not happen again in the future.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ” FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO GORIS PRESS CLUB “FEMIDA” NGO
On December 8, 2021 journalist Tatul Hakobyan, while on a business trip in the United States, reported to have received reprisal and even death threats. In journalist’s opinion, the campaign is directed from Armenia and some Armenian circles in the United States, and the reason for these threats is his one recent thought expressed publicly, namely “Armenia is where the Armenian soldier stands.”
The journalist drew the particular attention of law enforcement agencies, journalistic organizations, the RA Human Rights Defender, the US Embassy in Armenia to the fact. He promised to provide names and facts about the campaign against him upon his return to Armenia. At the moment the journalist is under the US police protection.
What happened is yet another proof that the culture of civilized debate has not been shaped both within the political circles and the Armenian society, and the extremely sharp intolerance towards dissent tends to deepen following the 44-day Artsakh war.
Whether one likes Tatul Hakobyan’s thoughts and analyses or not, he is one of the best representatives of Armenian journalism, who has studied the Artsakh issue in depth and has courageously covered it, including from the frontlines of hostilities. As a journalist, analyst and citizen, he has the right to freely express his opinion, and threats and calls for killing for that against him or any person in general are criminal acts.
We, the undersigned organizations, strongly condemn the unacceptable campaign against Tatul Hakobyan and express our support to our colleague.
With regards to the incident, we demand: ․
the RA Prosecutor’s Office to take immediate measures to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the threats campaign and their instructors, especially since the journalist is ready to provide specific names;
the RA Police to ensure Tatul Hakobyan’s security upon his return to
We call on the journalistic community to show solidarity and support to Tatul Hakobyan to resist the condemnable actions against him.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ” FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO GORIS PRESS CLUB “FEMIDA” NGO
The level of Internet freedom in Armenia in 2020-2021 was seriously affected by three factors. The first is the constant and tough political confrontation between the current government under the leadership of Nikol Pashinyan, who ascended to power as a result of the 2018 revolution, and various political forces directly or indirectly associated with the ruling elites of past years. The second is the processes closely related to COVID-19. And the third factor is the second Karabakh war, whose active phase was in September-November 2020, while the conflict continues to smolder to this day, having an impact on the Internet environment as well.
Hacker attacks
Hacker attacks against Armenian Internet resources are a permanent phenomenon. Due to the ongoing tensions around Karabakh, for more than two decades Armenian and Azerbaijani hackers have been constantly competing in hacking the websites of the opposite side. Attacks on websites are routine and basically almost regular, with increased waves of attacks on special calendar days. Between March and November 2021, only the Azerbaijani hacker group Azerbaijan Cyber Army reported around 70 hacked Armenian sites[i].
Hacker attacks also tend to intensify during escalations on the line of contact between the Armenian and Azerbaijani troops. During such an escalation of the situation on the line of contact in the south of Armenia, for example, massive attacks on news websites also began. Armtimes.com, previously edited by the incumbent Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, announced to have been hacked on November 16, at the moment of the start of active hostilities on the border[ii]. Added to that, cybersecurity experts started reporting serious DDoS attacks on news sites, which also began immediately after the border escalation[iii].
State-sponsored hacking groups
Armenian journalists, activists, public and government organizations are increasingly being targeted by state-sponsored hacking groups. As noted above, Azerbaijani hacker groups constantly attack Armenian targets. In the case of Azerbaijan, it is even difficult to distinguish between patriotic groups and those that are directly under state control or are groups immediately in the civil service.
However, within the last few years there has been an increase in extremely complex, comprehensive attacks on Armenian targets, which are carried out by various hacker groups, most likely associated with other states.
Thus, on July 14, 2021, Google’s Threat Analysis Group announced that they had discovered three zero-day vulnerabilities that were used to attack browser users[iv]. Targeted attacks were carried out on users in Armenia. The attackers used domains mimicking the most popular Armenian news websites. Only first-level domains were replaced. The following fake websites were used: lragir[.]org, armradio[.]org, asbares[.]com, armtimes[.]net, armlur[.]org, armenpress[.]org, hraparak[.]org, armtimes[.]org, hetq[.]org. Links to the infected websites were sent to targets by e-mail. At Google they believe that state-sponsored hacking groups participated in the attacks on targets in Armenia.
In parallel, Microsoft also announced about uncovering an attack at the level of zero-day vulnerabilities. And the list of targets also included victims from Armenia[v]. An investigation into the matter by Citizen Lab revealed that the attacks were carried out through the use of a malware developed by Israeli company Candiru. This time Armenian targets received a link to a fake website mimicking Armenpress state news agency. The address of the infected website again represented a complete analogue of the real website with a replaced first-level domain: armenpress[.]net[vi].
On November 24, 2021, a number of users received an alert from Apple that they were victims of an attack by a state-sponsored hacking group. According to CyberHUB-AM group, there are more than ten known cases, although the real number may be higher. Among the potential victims of the attack, which is most likely related to the Pegasus mobile phone malware, there are both pro-government and opposition figures. Artur Vanetsyan, former head of the National Security Service, now the head of “With Honor” opposition parliamentary bloc, openly declared to have received such an email[vii].
Screenshot of Apple’s notification to Artur Vanetsyan
Later, well-known cybersecurity expert Ruben Muradyan, referring to the post of Artur Vanetsyan, announced that he had discovered the popular mobile malware Pegasus on Vanetsyan’s phone two months before he received the email[viii].
And already at the end of the year, a particularly significant event took place: Armenia for the first time appeared on the list of countries that benefit from hacker services at the state level. On December 16, Facebook[ix], Citizen Lab[x] reported on the discovery of the activities of Cytrox, a company that, by the order of government agencies in a number of countries, carried out surveillance of various targets using Predator spyware. And the report lists Armenia as a client of the company, separately highlighting that journalists and politicians were among the targets of surveillance.
Content restrictions
The main content restrictions for journalists and social media users were in place in 2020. A state of emergency was initially declared in Armenia due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, which led to restrictions in the press. During 2020, dozens of online media and users were forced to delete publications or were fined[xi]. However, martial law, declared in the country with the start of the Karabakh war on September 27, 2020, was not lifted after the signing of the ceasefire agreement. Only on March 24, 2021 did the National Assembly lift martial law. Despite the fact that already in the post-war period censorship ended, nevertheless, a number of websites continued to face restrictions. During the war, websites belonging to the domain zone of Azerbaijan and Turkey were blocked in Armenia, and TikTok was also blocked for several weeks. At the same time, there was no official announcement on the blocking of sites. In the post-war period, many users were complaining about the inaccessibility of Azerbaijani and Turkish news portals, and some had also problems with TikTok. Armenian providers continued having problems with the accessibility of websites until March-April 2021[xii]. It is also noteworthy that the absence of any serious reaction by civil society towards the fact of blocking is a major concern. It should also be noted that in Armenia there are no traditions for blocking websites.
Persecutions of users
The authorities’ attempt to detect the administrator of the fake Facebook user “Gagik Soghomonyan” may be considered as the most serious incident. This account spreads highly negative information about government representatives, and he does so in an extremely abusive manner. On February 19, the National Security Service detained 4 persons who were suspected of running the fake account. Ex-deputy from the Republican Party of Armenia Karen Bekaryan, former chief of staff of the National Assembly Ara Saghatelyan, representative of “International Center on Development of Parliamentarism” public organization Mher Ayvazyan and citizen Aram Sargsyan[xiii] were detained. Saghatelyan was arrested for 2 months in this case. At the same time, according to the lawyer, the only evidence of his connection with the fake account was the fact of Saghatelyan’s using the same VPN service[xiv].
As a follow-up, in August 2021 the RA National Assembly adopted changes to the Criminal Code, criminalizing insults. Defamation had been decriminalized in the country as part of the fight for freedom of speech and freedom of the press back in 2010. Now, however, everything is going in the opposite direction.
“Grave insult”, that is, swearing, insulting a person in other ways, according to the new article, is punishable by a fine of 100,000 to one million AMD [about $205-2,050]. If the swearing was public or was published on the Internet, was related to the public activities of a person, then the fine will be from half a million to one million AMD [about $1,025-2,050]. And in case of a repeated insult against the same person, the punishment envisages not only a fine, which will be from one to three million AMD [about $2,050-6,150], but also imprisonment from one to three months[xv].
In general, it should be mentioned that in Armenia there have always been rarer restrictions on the Internet than “offline”. At the same time, the years 2020-2021 began to raise concerns that the situation with network freedoms is steadily deteriorating.
[xi] Armenia: State of Emergency Press Restrictions Continue; 22 Media Outlets Told to Remove/Edit Coronavirus Content https://hetq.am/en/article/114899
On October 5, 2021 the RA Constitutional Court made a decision, according to which the Law “On Amendments to the RA Civil Code” adopted by the parliament on March 24, 2021 was recognized in line with the Constitution. Thus, the upper threshold of damages award envisaged for insult will increase from previous 1 million to 3 million drams, and in case of defamation, it will become 6 million drams instead of 2 million.
Let us recall that the law was authored by the current NA Speaker Alen Simonyan when he was still the NA Deputy Speaker. During its circulation as a draft, it was rightly criticized not only by the undersigned organizations, but also by the wider journalistic community and international organizations (Freedom House, Reporters Without Borders, etc.). In particular, we have made a number of statements on the matter, and in the last one issued on the day the law was adopted, we urged the RA President not to sign the law and to forward it to the Constitutional Court to verify its compliance with the Constitution. And so he did.
However, the decision of the Constitutional Court causes not only disappointment and bewilderment, but also resentment. It does not take into consideration the recommendations of the Council of Europe and the requirements of a number of precedent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Moreover, this document adopted by the Constitutional Court clearly contradicts several provisions and the general spirit of the November 15, 2011 Decision No. 997 of the same court. Thus, 10 years ago, claiming that the financial situation of the media should be taken into account when awarding compensation for insult and slander in publications so that the liability does not lead to their bankruptcy, today the very court (although in a different composition), in fact, approves a law that stipulates a threefold increase in the upper threshold of damages award for insult and defamation. It is clear that this could become a signal for the courts to confiscate more money in such cases than is common practice today.
We, the undersigned organizations, reaffirm that we absolutely do not aim to defend offenders and slanderers, however, we insist that the use of disproportionately strict approaches is more likely to do harm to freedom of speech than to serve the fight against flaws. Especially as we consider that politicians, officials and representatives of various segments of the society often perceive criticism against themselves as defamation or insult and go to court. This may create serious obstacles to the free operation of media, encourage and increase the flow of lawsuits against journalists and media.
The adoption of this law is particularly alarming in the context of the disproportionate tightening of media regulations and the new restrictions applied. The criminalization of the so-called “grave insults” and the increased protection of public and state actors, as well as several other groups through that measure, as well as the initiatives on a ban on citing unidentifiable information sources, not publishing data on officials’ business trips and related expenses, purchases from a single vendor, etc. are part of that regressive process.
Recognizing that the entire state system was in fact unable to protect the media from unfounded and disproportionate restrictions and legal pressures, we demand:
– the National Assembly to review the entire legislative framework related to the activities of the media, to repeal the recently adopted laws contradicting the international norms and to refuse the adoption of similar bills in circulation, and after that to initiate open professional discussions to develop a concept of legal regulations in the media field;
– the RA President, the Constitutional Court, all political forces to contribute to the process of creating an enabling legal framework for the activities of the media and to actively oppose regressive legislative initiatives;
– the international organizations to discuss the issue of the adoption of media related laws by the RA Parliament in neglect of the international norms in that process, as well as to take measures to rectify the situation.
COMMITTEE TO PROTECT FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION YEREVAN PRESS CLUB MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER JOURNALISTS’ CLUB “ASPAREZ” FREEDOM OF INFORMATION CENTER MEDIA DIVERSITY INSTITUTE-ARMENIA PUBLIC JOURNALISM CLUB “JOURNALISTS FOR THE FUTURE” NGO “JOURNALISTS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS” NGO GORIS PRESS CLUB “FEMIDA” NGO
