The new director of Public Radio has been announced for over a month, but there is still ongoing controversy surrounding the decision. The Public Broadcaster Council has officially named Armen Koloyan the competition winner for the vacant Director of Public Radio position. Out of the eight participants, journalists Lusine Petrosyan and the former director of Public Radio, Garegin Khumaryan, have decided to dispute the competition results in the court.

The administrative court has approved the lawsuit filed by Lusine Petrosyan against the Board of the Public Broadcaster.

In her application to the administrative court, Lusine Petrosyan made two demands: to invalidate the competition’s results and the decision of the Public Broadcaster to appoint the winning participant as a director; the administrative court accepted the proceedings.

“In my opinion, the Council discriminated against me. They did not consider my candidacy because I am an opposition journalist criticizing the government’s activities. They believe that the director of Public Radio should be someone acceptable to the government. In other words, they violated the 12th European Convention on Human Rights protocol. I disputed the results based on this violation, and it was on this basis that the proceedings were accepted,” said Lusine Petrosyan.

The court rejected the second demand of Lusine Petrosyan’s lawsuit, requiring the Council of the Public Broadcaster to revise the tender procedure within a month, send the revised version for state legal examination, and then hold elections again.

The participant who filed the case with the Administrative Court claims that the conduct of the competition did not adhere to the procedures established by the government for electing the executive body of closed joint-stock companies with 100 percent state ownership, claiming the process was not based on transparent criteria but instead involved discretionary decision-making.

“The government has decided to regulate the competitive selection of executive directors of CJSCs with 100 percent state shares. An exemplary form of competition has been approved, which includes a theoretical testing phase followed by an interview. The key aspect here is the evaluation process, which should have clear and measurable criteria. This ensures that anyone appealing the evaluation will understand the basis on which it was assigned.”

I am confident that if the competition procedure were to undergo a state legal examination, it would receive a negative assessment,” says Lusine. 

According to the Code of Administrative Procedure, Armen Koloyan, the newly appointed director of Public Radio, was involved as a third party. In our conversation, he mentioned that he continues doing his regular work.

“Radio’s lawyers stated that the case has reached the court. I also heard that Ms. Lusine Petrosyan, who spoke in court, claimed that my work has been partially or completely suspended or that I now have to serve as a temporary official. I haven’t received any notification, decision, or judgment about this, and I continue to work as usual,” said Armen Koloyan.

Attorney Davit Asatryan explains that under the Code of Administrative Procedure, once a lawsuit has been accepted for consideration, the enforcement of the disputed administrative action is suspended until the court’s decision becomes effective. However, there is an important detail to note here.

“If an administrative act has already been carried out, such as appointing a person as a director who is already in office, and a claim is accepted into proceedings afterward, it cannot affect the administrative act that has already been performed. Additionally, if the administrative body determines that the decision is subject to immediate execution, it should explicitly mention that,” explained the lawyer.

The board of the public broadcaster has already received the court notice and must submit all the documents related to the case within two weeks.

“We have been notified that a lawsuit has been filed against us, and now our lawyers are working on a response to that lawsuit,” says Ara Shirinyan, chairman of the Public Broadcaster Council. “The notification does not mention anything about immediately implementing the decision or partially or completely suspending the tenure of the current director.”

Lusine Petrosyan, former director of Public Radio, is not the only one contesting the election results. Garegin Khumaryan, who received zero votes, is also preparing to challenge the outcome in court. He and his legal team have decided to appeal to the Civil Court. Khumaryan believes that, in addition to seeking to invalidate the election results, the Council members’ actions should also be halted. He argues that their behavior is not in line with public broadcasting standards, and there is no guarantee that such behavior will not recur.

“This issue concerns not only the quality of legal acts adopted by the Council but also civil rights and freedoms. Unfortunately, there is still insufficient awareness that the right to information is one of the fundamental rights akin to life, freedom, personal integrity, and other basic rights. Therefore, the Civil Court is the appropriate venue to address this problem.”

“The upcoming trial will be crucial as it will also impact the settlements. In this situation, the court where the victory will be officially recorded is just as important as the victory itself,” stated Garegin Khumaryan.

After final adjustments, Khumaryan’s legal team will submit the case to the court in a few days.