Hovhannes Ishkhanian, a young Armenian writer, is facing prosecution for a limited edition (300 copies) book he published, which the Armenian police claim contains pornography. Continue reading
Tagged Armenia, Army, Censorship, Culture, Freedom, Literature, Military, pornography, Speech
Armenia -- Liberty square facing Armenia's Opera house in Yerevan, 27Feb2012
The roof of the underground parking facility built under Yerevan’s Liberty square has cracked less than two years after construction. Continue reading
Armenia -- Opposition rally in Yerevans Liberty square, 08Apr2011
Municipal authorities banned last week two separate appeals by Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun) and Armenian National Congress (HAK) to hold rallies in Yerevan’s Liberty Square. Continue reading
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton gives a speech on Internet freedom at the Newseum in Washington, DC.
There was an incomprehensible feeling of strength and dignity, energy and calm understanding of her own power and importance as the U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton walked into the Treaty Room in the U.S. Department of State on Monday to meet our group of about 30 journalists and bloggers who came to learn about “social media” in the United States. Continue reading
Armenia -- Argishti Kivirian, editor of "Armenia Today" news agency beaten on 30Apr2009. Photo courtesy of Gagik Shamshian
The Committee to Protect Freedom of Expression (CPFE) in Armenia, which I am a member of, released on Tuesday its annual report on “Violated rights of journalists and media in Armenia.” As the organization’s website is currently under construction and this report is not fully available online, I’ve decided to post the full English version of the report below. Continue reading
According to Economic Freedom Index 2009 published by American Heritage Foundation, the level of trade freedom in Armenia increased by 14.4 percentage points up to 86.4% in 2008. Armenia scored 69 points out of 100 possible, versus the 70 point score last year.
According to ARKA report, the Heritage Foundation specialists say Armenia’s inadequate infrastructure and the customs system’s unpredictable valuation, inefficient administration, and level of corruption add to the cost of trade. Ten points were deducted from Armenia’s trade freedom score to account for non-tariff barriers.
Mark Grigoryan reports, that the “Reporters sans frontiers” annual Worldwide Press Freedom Index has been released, and brings the places occupied by the countries of post-soviet space, contesting them with the ratings of UK and USA:
Estonia – 3-4
Latvia – 12
Lithuenia – 23
UK – 24
USA – 48
Georgia – 66
Armenia – 77
Moldova – 81
Ukraine – 92-93Kyrgyzstan – 110
Tajikistan – 115
Kazakhstan – 125
Azerbaijan – 139
Russia – 144
Belarus – 151
Uzbekistan – 160
Turkmenistan – 167There is a total of 169 countries in the list. The full list can be found here (on the organization’s site).
Uzogh has done some research on the subject and come up with an interesting question: “With Azerbaijan everything is clear – they just like to put journalists to jail. With Georgia everything is clear too. What I don’t understand is our rating – we have jumped from 101st place to 77th. How did that happen?” There are some really interesting speculations in the comments section of Uzogh’s blog around the subject, but I suggest you go take a look at them there (if you know Russian of course).
Here are also a couple of links for your convenience:
Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2007, Questionnaire for compiling a 2007 world press freedom index, Worldwide Press Freedom Index 2006, Questionnaire for compiling a 2006 world press freedom index
