On April 7 in Gyumri an attempt was made to set on fire the TV tower that “GALA”
TV company makes its broadcasts from. At about 05.00 in the morning a resident
of a nearby house noticed the smoke. The fire brigade that arrived on site found
a burning tire at one of the tower levels, about 25 meters high. Fortunately,
the equipment and the cables of “GALA” and several Internet providers were not
damaged. In the press release, disseminated on the same day by the Headquarters
to Protect Free Expression and “GALA” TV company, doubts were expressed that
this crime, too, will remain undisclosed. Notably, since early 2008 this is
the third such incident in Gyumri: at about 5 o’clock in the morning on January
19 an attempted arson of “Asparez” Journalist’s Club occurred, in the early
morning of March 21 the car of “Asparez” President burned (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
January 25-31, 2008 and
March 21-27, 2008).
As it has been reported, on February 29, 2008 the court of general jurisdiction
of Shirak region read the ruling on the dispute between the Gyumri municipality
and the founder of “GALA” TV company, “CHAP” LLC, committing the company to
stop the use of the city TV tower and dissemble the equipment installed there
(see YPC Weekly Newsletter, February
29 – March 6, 2008). On March 28 “GALA” founder challenged this ruling with
the RA Civil Court of Appeals. The hearing of the case is scheduled for April
11.
