“PRESS CLUB” CYCLE: EUROPEAN INTEGRATION THROUGH PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
On November 11, this season’s first talk show of the “Press Club” cycle, dealing with journalistic ethics, went on “Yerkir Media” TV channel. The current weekly “Press Club” cycle is produced by Yerevan Press Club with the support of the Deutsche Welle Academy.
The talk show was devoted to issues of journalistic ethics while covering EU-Armenia relations and European integration in general. The “Press Club” discussants, Eurasia Partnership Foundation Director Gevorg Ter-Gabrielian and “Golos Armenii” analyst Ruben Margarian, expressed their perspectives on the matter. The Executive Director of the Moldovan Association of Independent Press Petru Makovei, the Chairman of the Board of Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics Zviad Koridze, “Urban” Foundation for Sustainable Development Chairperson Armineh Toukhikian and Yerevan Press Club expert Mikayel Zolyan were the invited experts. YPC President Boris Navasardian hosted the talk show.
The next “Press Club” will be broadcast by “Yerkir Media” on November 18, Monday, at 18.00 (with the rerun on November 23, Saturday, at 11.00).
Watch November 11, 2013 “Press Club” here
AHEAD OF VILNIUS SUMMIT
On November 8-10, the “Actions of CSF Armenian National Platform Before and After the EaP Vilnius Summit” seminar, organized by Yerevan Press Club with the support of Friedrich Ebert Foundation, was held in “Artur’s Aghveran Resort”. NGOs, members of the Armenian National Platform of Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum took part in this event.
The prospects of the development of EU-Armenia relations in the light of the upcoming third Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius on November 28-29, 2013, and the current geopolitical situation became the central topic in the seminar. The current situation was analyzed in the talks, delivered by the Head of the EU Delegation to Armenia Trian Hristea, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to Armenia Zdzislaw Raczynski, RA National Assembly MP Tevan Poghosian and RA Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian. The members of the EaP CSF Armenian National Platform also discussed their future actions before and after the Vilnius Summit and a number of ANP organizational matters.
COORDINATOR OF ARMENIA TODAY INDICTED FOR ASSAULT ON POLICE OFFICER AND FALSE DENUNCIATION
On November 7, the RA Special Investigative Service, examining the incident between the Police and the ARMENIA Today news agency coordinator Argishti Kivirian, indicted the latter by charges of RA Criminal Code Article 316 (“Violence against a representative of the authorities”) and Article 333 (“False Denunciation”). The measure of restriction applied against the journalist was recognizance not to leave. ARMENIA Today informed of these developments on the same day in the “Argishti Kivirian Forced to Silence” piece.
As we have reported, Argishti Kivirian was detained on August 24, 2013, during the public protests against the construction of a residential building in the vicinity of 5 Komitas avenue in Yerevan. According to the journalist, the law-enforcers beat him in the police car. Argishti Kivirian was summoned to the Arabkir Police Department of Yerevan with injuries and bruises on his face, from where the ambulance transferred him to “Erebuni” medical center. Argishti Kivirian’s story about the incident was posted onto Lragir.am. On August 25, upon the report of one of the police officers, who transported the journalist to the police department, the police instituted criminal proceedings against him on charges of Article 316. In his turn, Argishti Kivirian addressed the Police with a statement about the use of force during his detention. On August 27, upon the order of the RA General Prosecutor Aghvan Hovsepian, all the files of the case were submitted to the RA Special Investigative Service (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, September 2-5, 2013).
Argishti Kivirian’s lawyer Lusineh Sahakian told YPC that the Special Investigative Service considered it unproven that the Police used force against the journalist and qualified Argishti Kivirian’s statement as false denunciation.
CONSTITUTIONAL COURT CONSIDERS LEGISLATIVE REGULATION OF MORAL DAMAGE COMPENSATION NECESSARY
On November 8, a ruling on the compliance of Clause 2 of the RA Civil Code Article 17 (“Compensation for Losses”) with the Main Law was posted onto the RA Constitutional Court website. The Constitutional Court’s ruling was passed on November 5, in relation to the petition, submitted by citizen Artur Khachatrian. The latter disputed the constitutionality of Article 17 Clause 2, establishing various kinds of losses, except moral damage. In the course of three years Artur Khachatrian’s lawsuit on material and moral damage compensation was heard by all court instances with only partial satisfaction – the claim for indemnification of moral damage was rejected.
According to November 5 ruling, the Constitutional Court adjudicated Article 17 Clause 2 of the RA Civil Code at variance with the Armenian Constitution and ineffective. Besides, the Constitutional Court ruled that the given provision would lose its legal force on October 1, 2014, since its immediate abolition might cause legal imbalance. To prevent it, the Court considered it necessary to institutionalize the legislative regulation of moral damage compensation.
Talking to YPC, Ara Ghazarian, one of Artur Khachatrian’s lawyers, evaluated the decision of the Constitutional Court as positive. In his opinion, the inclusion of a provision on the material compensation for moral damage in the RA Civil Code will contribute to the protection of privacy and enhancing the responsibilities of media. It is necessary to work out a clear mechanism to define the amount of material compensation for moral damage, Ara Ghazarian added.
