Administrative Court upholds A1+’s motion
The Administrative Court of Armenia today held a pre-trial hearing in A1+'s case.
The company is disputing the December 16, 2010 decision of the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR) whereby A1+ was rejected a broadcasting license in yet another frequency tender administered by the state regulator after allegedly submitting fraudulent documents. The results of the process published by the NCTR showed A1+ trailing the operating TV channel, ArmNews.
Today's court sitting started with a 30-minute delay for Judge Arghishti Ghazaryan was attending another trial. On arriving at the hall, Ghazaryan prohibited A1+'s camera crew from shooting the trial, saying they might interfere his work.
A1+'s Representative Alexander Sahakyan motioned the court to involve ArmNews in the litigation as a 3rd party, which was accepted by the judge. NCTR representative Artak Sargsyan did not object to the motion.
As Sahakyan said later, he expected the court to uphold the motion.
"The 3rd party whose interests and rights are questioned during the trial should participate in the procedure. Once the party is involved in the trial, it can dispute the judicial act with the demand of annulment," he said.
In case the court invalidates the NCTR decision, the state regulator will have to announce a new tender for broadcasting frequencies.
