“I have examined the part related to the freedom of speech. The issue is that when we want to compare reports, we should clarify the following; since our aspirations become higher each year, the assessments of us and the criteria we have to meet become closer to those of high international criteria. So naturally, they assessed us according to different criteria, say, fifteen years ago,” Larisa Alaverdyan, the head of the Against Legal Arbitrariness NGO and the first Human Rights Defender of the Republic of Armenia, said during a conversation with www.aravot.am, talking about the report issued by the US Department of State. The problem related to the freedom of speech, in Alaverdyan’s opinion, is presented differently in the report. “The issue is that we haven’t been able to present the problem of TV channels in
our country in terms of real freedom of speech, the situation that has been there since A1+ and Noyan Tapan were closed.” Alaverdyan thinks: “If we look at ourselves, we will see that the rest what the US Department of State states reflects this or that drawback one way or the other.” Alaverdyan assures that the problem is presented in the report mildly. “We ourselves should realize that they assess us, raising the criteria every year. All the same, their approach to us is not equal to them, as their attitude would have been toward freer countries.” As for whether we had to take note of that report or not, Alaverdyan said: “We have to take note of our social needs. I think that the condition of our press and the condition of society don’t correspond to each other. Thus, critical articles and TV shows don’t reveal the deeply-rooted reasons for the situation that exists today. And the situation that exists in our country today is lack of the rule of law.”
Eva HAKOBYAN
