Daily Archives: April 2, 2008

A1+: 6 years off air…

Posted on April 2, 2008 by | 5 Comments

 “(For years) They tried to ban A1+ TV, they sort of succeeded, but they was not able to ban A1+, for me – the symbol of free speech in Armenia. A1+ continued its life online“: source – Unzipped.

As far as I’m concerned, today A1plus is by far the best source of information in Armenia, when comparing to anything else that is available on offer. A while ago I posted an entry about the statistics of A1plus – and every figure I wrote there for the year 2007 – looks bleak when comparing the hits that the website enjoyed in the presidential election period – and the tendency continues also today. Hopefully I will be soon able to produce another report on their statistics from the start of the year, and also explore the A1plus blog and A1plus YouTube channel phenomena. I am proud, that I have my modest input into creation of the last two resources, especially the A1plus YouTube channel, which has been in the YouTube top lists of most viewed channels from the first week of its establishment.

As Artmika rightly says, today, it’s 6 years since A1+ is off air… but still on…

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OSCE, Council of Europe: amendments to Armenia’s assembly law raise serious concerns

Posted on April 2, 2008 by | 1 Comment

STRASBOURG/WARSAW, 02.04.2008 – In a joint legal opinion, the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission and the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) concluded that recent amendments to Armenia’s assembly law raise serious concerns.

The amendments to the Law of the Republic of Armenia on Conducting Meetings, Assemblies, Rallies and Demonstrations, passed on 17 March 2008, were reviewed by the ODIHR’s Expert Panel on Freedom of Assembly and the Venice Commission following a request from the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament.  

“On the basis of a preliminary assessment, the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR Expert Panel on Freedom of Assembly do not consider the proposed amendments to be acceptable, to the extent that they restrict further the right of assembly in a significant fashion”, says the joint opinion.

The amendments tighten provisions concerning spontaneous assemblies, and limit the possibility for decisions on restricting assemblies deemed to pose a risk for public order to be reviewed by an independent tribunal or court. In addition, a provision allowing for small events to develop spontaneously into bigger assemblies – which was considered a good practice example and made the Law in its previous form stand out as progressive – has been repealed.

The joint opinion of the Venice Commission and the OSCE/ODIHR  was shared with the National Assembly on 28 March 2008, and will be discussed with National Assembly representatives in Yerevan on 15-16 April 2008. 

The joint opinion continues the long-standing cooperation between the Armenian authorities, the ODIHR and the Venice Commission on the legislative regulation of public assemblies.

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