The Commission on Television and Radio of Armenia (CTR) suspended the license of “Tospa,” a company rebroadcasting programs from Russian radio station “Sputnik Armenia” in Yerevan, for 30 days. 

The regulatory body has imposed a fine of 500,000 drams.

CTR has registered violations of regulations during the broadcast of two programs on the radio station.

According to the commission’s report, during the “Friday with Tigran Keosayan” program, the author allowed the expression of language that belittled the honor and dignity of the country and its people. The program also made calls for violence and even indirectly threatened the Prime Minister by saying, “Does he think he will survive?”.

The decision regarding the fine is also related to the program “Abovyan Time” created by former PAP deputy Arman Abovyan. The CTR claims that the program caused panic among the audience due to unverified and unreliable sources.

The CTR President Tigran Hakobyan said in a conversation with “Azatutyan” that “Tospa” regularly violated several provisions of the Law on Audiovisual Media, including Article 9, according to which calls for actions prohibited by Armenian legislation cannot be made during programs.

“It is unacceptable for any radio station, in any country, to utilize public resources to propagate foreign media content,” declared Tigran Hakobyan.

“Sputnik Armenia” strongly disagrees with the reasons provided for the decision.

Simon Farmanyan, lawyer of “Tospa” company, stated that:

• Tigran Keosayan did not call for any actions during the program; instead, he only voiced the facts.
• During the program, the speech was directed toward a particular topic. Therefore, there is no question of national pride.
• Arman Abovyan’s statements were opinion-based rather than unreliable or unverified during the “Abovyan Time” program.
• There have been no violations, therefore no disciplinary measures had to be taken.

The Russian Embassy in Armenia has expressed its remorse over the decision made. They noted that this step may seem like a concession to those advocating severing traditional, mutually beneficial, and mutually respectful alliance relations between Russia and Armenia.

There were many comments regarding the radio station being taken off the air. To clear the confusion, the regulatory body clarified that it was not “Sputnik Armenia” radio being taken off the air, but “Radio Tospa” CJSC. This means that the radio station would continue to broadcast, but only the broadcast of specific programs would stop.

In turn, The Commission on Television and Radio of Armenia called the political evaluations disappointing. “In such situations, instead of a willingness to, if not to apologize, then at least to exclude similar incidents through constructive dialogue, the editorial policy officers of “Radio Sputnik” limited themselves to intemperate statements directed at “ally Armenia” and “suppression of freedom of speech” to the authorities of Armenia and the regulatory body. presenting an accusation”, emphasized the commission.

The Chairman of the Freedom of Speech Protection Committee, Ashot Melikyan, has emphasized that threats and calls for violence cannot be considered as freedom of speech.

He further added that it is a joke when the Russian side, especially at the official level, talks about the restrictions on freedom of speech. Melikyan stated that it is high time for the Russian media to understand that if they operate in another country, they must comply with its laws. He expressed these views on “First Channel.”

Tigranuhi Martirosyan