On December 12 at the session of OSCE Permanent Council the regular report of its Representative on Freedom of the Media Freimut Duve on the situation with media freedom in the region was presented. In the section on Armenia Mr. Duve noted: “I am still concerned regarding the state of affairs around the two independent TV stations: “Noyan Tapan” and “A1+”. Following a court decision in favor of “Noyan Tapan” on 2 December, I hope that the tender for five frequencies can proceed quickly so that during the upcoming presidential elections and the preceding campaigns these two respected channels will be operational." (For details of the litigation, see YPC Weekly Newsletter, November 30 – December 6, 2002.)
The report also touched upon the incident with journalist Mark Grigorian who got shrapnel wounds after the explosion of a grenade on October 22 in a central street of Yerevan. Freimut Duve expressed hope that the Armenian authorities will investigate into the incident thoroughly.
