The Ombudsman of Armenia appealed to the Constitutional Court in  connection with restricting media activities under martial law

ArmInfo. Ombudsman of Armenia Arman Tatoyan appealed to the Constitutional Court in connection with the restriction of media activities under martial law. Tatoyan himself announced this on his Facebook page.

"Today I applied to the RA Constitutional Court on the  constitutionality of norms establishing administrative responsibility  and restrictions on expression of opinion and freedom of the press on  the basis of martial law," the Ombudsman said.

Tatoyan stated that it is obvious that martial law can be the basis  for restricting human rights and freedoms, including freedom of  expression, and the Armenian Constitution provides for such an  opportunity in order to exclude dangers and threats in the flow of  information in order to more effectively protect human rights in a  state of war. provisions.

But on the other hand, continued the Human Rights Defender, it is  essential that there are fixed clear rules of restrictions, their  high degree of specificity, excluding any uncertainty, since the  requirement applies not only to media organizations and journalists  working in Armenia, but to all citizens in general. ...  According to  him, this, in turn, means that in specific cases, administrative  procedures and fines for violating restrictions should not become a  disproportionate interference with human rights or the professional  activities of persons involved in the media.

Tatoyan also added that the restrictions imposed created legal  difficulties for the police, which became their "legal victim", and  the suddenness of their introduction created unnecessary difficulties  for the media, journalists and various citizens.

"In fact, in this difficult situation, the important public demand  for awareness suggests that journalists working in accordance with  professional principles and rules should be guaranteed better working  conditions, ensuring that the rules are clear.

The application submitted to the Constitutional Court raised the  issue of the compliance of the aforementioned provisions with the  constitutional requirements of freedom of expression, legal certainty  and proportionality, including taking into account international  experience and standards. The statement also touched upon the  procedural issues of adopting legal acts establishing these  restrictions, "the Ombudsman of Armenia said, adding that the basis  for the appeal was the statements and complaints of the Union of  Journalists of Armenia, more than two dozen media outlets, citizens'  appeals to the office of the human rights defender, the Ombudsman's  own research , as well as explanations of state bodies on these  issues.ЏаЁ н⮬ ’ в®п­ ®в¬ҐвЁ«, зв® ў бў®Ґ¬ ®Ўа йҐ­ЁҐ ў  Љ®­бвЁвгжЁ®­­л© бг¤ ®­ Їа®бЁв ­Ґ  ­­г«Ёа®ў вм Ё«Ё ®Ў­г«Ёвм аҐиҐ­ЁҐ ®  § ЇаҐвҐ, ўўҐ¤Ґ­­®¬ ў гб«®ўЁпе ў®Ґ­­®Ј® Ї®«®¦Ґ­Ёп,   Ї®¤­Ё¬ Ґв ў®Їа®б  ® ­Ґ®Ўе®¤Ё¬®бвЁ ®ЎҐбЇҐзҐ­Ёп зҐвЄ®бвЁ Їа ўЁ« Ё ¤Ґ©бвўгойЁе Їа ўЁ«, Ёе  Є®­ЄаҐвЁ§ жЁЁ.  "For media organizations, individual journalists and  citizens, it should be clearly indicated in which case their  criticism, opinion or position will contradict the restrictions  introduced during martial law, for what and what responsibility will  arise if they violate these restrictions," he concluded Tatoyan.  Let  us remind you that the decree of the Armenian government "On the  declaration of martial law in the Republic of Armenia" sets a number  of restrictions on the implementation of publications and programs.  It is forbidden to criticize, refute, question or otherwise devalue  the actions of state and local self-government bodies and officials  ensuring state security. Also, propaganda against the defense and  security capabilities of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of  Artsakh is prohibited, including the publication of programs that  question the defense capability of Artsakh.  Violation of these rules  by persons working in the media is punished by a fine in the amount  of 700,000 to 1,000,000 AMD. If the publications are not canceled  after the imposition of an administrative fine, the media will be  fined from 1,000,000 to 1 million 500 thousand drams.  Individuals  not working in the media will be fined between 300,000 and 700,000  AMD. If, after the fine, the citizen does not immediately delete the  publication, then he will be fined from 700,000 AMD to 1.000.000 AMD.  If publications of this kind continue, the amount of the fine will   double.