Armenia: Media Stop Reporting Protests After State of Emergency
A1Plus is not the only media outlet that has stopped reporting the ongoing presidential election protests in Armenia due to de jure state of emergency. Websites that were updated several times an hour are now silent complying with Armenia’s Constitution that gives censorship rights to the government when the latter declares state of emergency.
Hetq.am, a website of investigative journalists that I occasionally contribute to, informs (in Armenian) that they “have to limit their work” under the law while ArmeniaNow, a source widely seen as among the most objective, has stopped updating its homepage without even reporting the State of Emergency.
Armenian blogs have become somewhat passive too in the last few hours but it is too early to conclude that they perceive their activities to be limited under the law.
4 Responses to “Armenia: Media Stop Reporting Protests After State of Emergency”
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Onnik Krikorian on 02 Mar 2008 at 3:33 am #
Simon, I know both Ditord and myself will do all we can to report via our blogs. I have to admit, however, that as a foreign citizen in Armenia, I’m not sure to what extent I will be allowed to go. For example, will attending an opposition rally and posting photos be considered seditious? I don’t know, but I need to do it.
I have a son here who is an Armenian citizen so I’m sure I can’t be expelled from the country for doing so, but obviously, concerns are there. On the other hand, as I hope to report all sides with links to supporting and trustworthy background information, I shouldn’t be concerned. However, I admit that I’m not sure what will be. I guess I need to carry on and see, right?
Blogian on 02 Mar 2008 at 3:43 am #
Onnik, I am not in the position to advice people what to do. I have asked my family to stay home and not participate in anything – but I can’t ask the same from a journalist whose blog I read several times a day.
My feeling is the state of emergency will be lifted in a few days if not earlier – drawing from what happened in Georgia.
Nonetheless, it is easy for me to sit in my American chair from Colorado and make predictions on what will happen. Whatever happens, your son is most important and he is Armenia’s future. So if needed, stay at home with him and take care of your family. In a sense, the right thing to do is to obey the law that Hetq and A1Plus are doing. This is unless the authorities continue and increase violence – in which case they and their orders won’t be legitimate on any ground.
nazarian on 02 Mar 2008 at 4:49 am #
The burden of disseminating of information is on our shoulders now that non-state controlled media has been silenced. I’ll try to update as much as possible.
We also need to create redundancy so that if the Armenian state shuts down one blog, there will be many more that they cannot close.
nazarian on 02 Mar 2008 at 5:36 am #
Steal my blog… Do not let the iron curtain shut Armenia from the rest of the world.
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Now that the Armenia media has been censored, the task of spreading information is upon the bloggers. Please feel free to copy any information you find on my blog and use it.
http://hnazarian.blogspot.com/
We must not let the events go unnoticed – the dissemination of information is one toll to keep the out of control Armenian state responsible for what they have done. We can’t let this be forgotten.