Having closed Yerevan council meetings is challenge to media (video)
Journalists' entrance to Yerevan council hall was banned. The National Assembly has amended the RA Law "On Local Self-Government in the City of Yerevan". Shushan Doydoyan, President of the Freedom of Information Center told A1 + that during the first reading, the bill was only 3-4 lines where there was no word about the work of journalists, and during the second reading, another draft was brought, which had other content. No public hearings on the project were held. Journalists also did not have the opportunity to express their opinion. The idea of holding the session of the Council of Elders without journalists emerged after the incident on February 13, when the members of the Yerkir Tsiran (Country of Apricot) faction brought water from the Nubarashen open water plant. Before the video cameras, the RPA members beat the members of Yerkir Tsirani members. Justice Minister Davit Harutyunyan said that the project will repeat the model of the National Assembly and there will be live broadcast. However, there is a significant difference between the sessions of NA and municipality. Journalists in the National Assembly see behind the windows what is happening in the hall. And there will be another situation in the municipality, the room for journalists will be on the first floor and the council session will be held on the 5th floor. Shushan Doydoyan reminds that journalists do not cover the meetings of the Council for their personal interests or purposes: "They are there as the public's eyes or ears, they see, hear, record and transmit it to the public." Freedom of Information Center Chairman concluded that the live broadcast can always be interrupted by different pretexts, leaving the public unaware of what has happened inside.
