Journalists Union of Armenia considers  statement of  Prosecutor  General`s Office an attempt to exert pressure on  media

ArmInfo. The Journalists Union of Armenia considers the statement of the Prosecutor General's Office an attempt to exert pressure on the media.

This, in particular, is the last statement of the Prosecutor  General's Office, which states: <... In the case of continuing the  strategy, according to Kocharyan's defense by distorting public  opinion, the prosecution will be forced, if necessary, to take  measures aimed at preventing attempts distribution and manipulation  of false information generated by individual media, fake or real  users of social networks, and providing the public with objective  information, remaining faithful to the law>.

The Union of Journalists of Armenia strongly condemns this statement  of the RA Prosecutor General's Office, qualifying it as direct  pressure on the press, freedom of speech and urges to refrain from  such activities and statements.

<To the attention of the Prosecutor General's Office, Article 4 of  the Law of the Republic of Armenia On Mass Information clearly  establishes guarantees for ensuring freedom of speech in the field of  information, according to which journalists and persons carrying out  information activities act freely, based on the principles of  equality, legality, freedom of speech (expression) and pluralism.

We also consider it necessary to recall that in the course of  communication between journalists and prosecutors, the basic  guarantees of the rights of journalists and their importance are  emphasized in a number of international documents.

Thus, according to the Rome Statute, the right to receive information  and freedom of the press must be taken into account in contacts with  prosecutors and the media.

The Prosecutor's Office must take special care in matters of freedom  of speech and the right to be informed.

Freedom of the press must be guaranteed during legal proceedings.  Under Article 10 of the ECHR, the press is obliged to convey  information and ideas of public interest, which include the right of  the public to receive them, thereby allowing the press to exercise  the role of public controller. In this process, the media should be  more secure if they contribute to the discussion of issues of public  interest.

According to the communication guide for the judiciary and the  prosecutor's office of the European Commission for the Efficiency of  Justice (2018), journalists should be seen as partners, not enemies.

The statement of the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia dated May  17, 2019 is an attempt to exert pressure on the freedom of the press  and present the media in the eyes of the public as enemies distorting  public opinion. This is simply an obstacle to the free press  activity.

The Union of Journalists of Armenia focuses the attention of  structures involved in the protection of freedom of speech, including  the OSCE Representative on Freedom of Speech, on the current  situation.

It is not clear why, the General Prosecutor's Office of the Republic  of Armenia, having left its business, is trying to restrict media  freedom, censor publications. The RA Prosecutor General's Office, in  fact, has deviated from its constitutional mission and the  fulfillment of its functions and is drawn into political processes,  becoming their side during this time, "the statement says.