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Yerevan Press Club Weekly Newsletter - 12/02/2004

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  • Yerevan Press Club Weekly Newsletter - 12/02/2004

    YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

    NOVEMBER 26 - DECEMBER 2, 2004

    HIGHLIGHTS:

    SIXTH "PRESS CLUB" SHOW

    "INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS" WIN THE CASE AGAINST THE YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY

    VERSION OF "HAIKAKAN ZHAMANAK" CAR SELF-IGNITION WAS NOT CONFIRMED


    SIXTH "PRESS CLUB" SHOW

    On November 29 on the evening air of the Second Armenian TV Channel the
    sixth "Press Club" show was issued. The cycle is organized by Yerevan Press
    Club under "Strengthening Democracy in South Caucasus by Free Expression"
    project, implemented jointly with "Article 19" international organization
    with the support of Open Society Institute.

    The heads of the leading media and journalistic associations of Armenia
    discussed the issue of reliable information and trustworthiness of media.
    The second topic was the Karabagh conflict, in particular, the events that
    drew the greatest attention of the media during that past days: the draft
    resolution introduced to the discussion of the UN General Assembly upon the
    proposal of Azerbaijan "On the Situation on Occupied Territories of
    Azerbaijan", and the report on Mountainous Karabagh prepared by the reporter
    of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe David Atkinson and
    discussed at the PACE Politics Committee.

    "INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS" WIN THE CASE AGAINST THE YEREVAN MUNICIPALITY

    On December 1 the RA Court of Appeals secured the suit of "Investigative
    Journalists" NGO versus the Yerevan municipality. The court obliged the
    municipality to provide the resolutions passed by the city administration in
    1997-2003 on construction of the green zone around the National Opera and
    Ballet Theater, necessary for the journalistic investigation. The demand of
    the plaintiff had previously been rejected by the courts of primary and
    secondary jurisdiction, and in late October the RA Court of Cassation
    redirected the case for the consideration of the Court of Appeals in a new
    composition (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, October 29 - November 4, 2004).

    VERSION OF "HAIKAKAN ZHAMANAK" CAR SELF-IGNITION WAS NOT CONFIRMED

    On November 29 the State Fire Service of the RA Department of Emergencies
    provided "Haikakan Zhamanak" daily with a final expert assessment of the
    reasons why the car owned by the newspaper and used by the Chief Editor
    Nikol Pashinian went on fire. As it has been reported, the fire occurred on
    the evening of November 22 and by the preliminary assessment of the experts
    was caused by a malfunction of the battery wires in the car. Meanwhile,
    Nikol Pashinian qualified the incident as intentional, directed against him
    personally and suggested that a well-known businessman and RA National
    Assembly deputy Gagik Tsarukian was involved in it (see details in YPC
    Weekly Newsletter, November 19-25, 2004).

    On November 30 "Haikakan Zhamanak" published extracts from the expert
    assessment above. According to the document, the experts had considered two
    reasons for the ignition, an electrotechnical malfunction and outside
    intervention, and arrived at the conclusion that "the probable reason for
    the fire was the heat impact of an open fire source in presence of flammable
    substances". As to the earlier version of ignition due to battery wire
    malfunction, in the opinion of experts, it is of little probability.

    Thus, the supposition of self-ignition of the car is actually rejected. At
    the same time, "Haikakan Zhamanak" believes there are certain deficiencies
    in the assessment: the phrasings are obscure, the mechanism of the ignition
    is not explained. For this reason the representative of the editorial office
    refused to sign the document.

    The assessment of the Fire Service is sent to an appropriate investigation
    body which is now to decide whether criminal proceedings will be instituted.


    When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
    Press Club is required.

    You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
    [email protected]

    Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
    this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

    Editor of YPC Newsletter - Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
    ____________________________________________
    Yerevan Press Club
    9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
    375007, Yerevan, Armenia
    Tel.: (+ 374 1) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
    Fax: (+374 1) 53 56 61
    E-mail: [email protected]
    Web Site: www.ypc.am
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