Armenian president rejects bill proposing tougher fines for defamation and libel in media
President Armen Sarkissian has not given a final approval to recently initiated draft legislative reforms proposing essentially increased fines for public reports containing defamation and libel.
The bill, initiated as an amendment to the Civil Code of Armenia, was submitted to the presidential office on March 23. If signed into law, it would apply also to media outlets.
The president earlier held meetings with different representatives of the media to hear their consdierations and observations, as well as the concerns that legal initiatives addressing the sector are “debated and adopted without due regard for the society’s opinion and proposals”.
“The President of the Republic attaches a major importance to freedom of speech and opinion and is concerned that the propsoed changes fall short of providing a systemic solution to any problem in the sector on the one hand, while on the other hand, they may essentially undermine freedom of speech and expression, restricting, to a tangible degree, the freedom of a journalist and a media outlet to objectively criticize events and phenomena (including the opportunity to provide an unrestrained coverage of the activity of public and political figures).
“The freedom of expression of media outlets acting as a ‘public watchdog’ in a democratic society, as well as the opinions on issues of public interest are considered a category enjoying a higher level protection,” reads part of the official statement released by the presidential office.
A reference is also made to Article 42 of the Constitution, citing international instruments guaranteeing each person’s rights to freedom of expression.
Condemning both defamation and libel as impermissible and unacceptable practices, the statement also cites controversial provisions in the bill adopted by the National Assembly earlier this year.
The president intends to appeal to the Constitutional Court to dispute the conformity of the proposed bill to the basic law.
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