Chief Editors Call on Journalists to Oppose to Amendments in Civil Code

Armenian journalists should be unified against the intuitive to introduce amendments to the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia which will assign fees for "slanderous publications" in press, Anna Hakobyan Chief Editors of the local Armenian daily Haykakan Jamanak (Armenian Times) and Armine Ohanyan, Chief Editors of the local Armenian daily Hraparak (Square) said at a press conference today.

According to Anna Ohanyan it is difficult to say anything unless the law is implemented, but "so far we have not seen any change that is made in favor of the press."

"In fact they [the authorities] realized that the best way to exert pressure on media is the financial one. We may be sentenced, but the newspaper may be printed," said Ohanyan, adding that their newspaper would close down, should a complaint, worth several million AMD, be filed against it.

Contrary, Anna Hakobyan said she was a little optimistic about it.

"To tell you the truth I am a little optimistic about it. I hope that the community of journalists will be unified and will not allow those amendments to be implemented at all, and that they will remain at this stage of discussions, because if this happens, it will be the very change that no one will be able to work, no separate journalist will be able to work. This is the very case when the situation in our media will aggravate … and we will lose our achievements," explained Hakobyan.