Representative of ArmNews did not show up in court
The Administrative Court of Armenia today adjourned the hearing in the case of A1+ vs. NCTR.
The representative of the respondent side - ArmNews TV Company - did not attend the court sitting.
A1+ is disputing the December 16, 2010 decision of the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR) whereby A1+ was rejected a broadcasting license in 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.
Judge Argishti Ghazaryan said that the writ was returned to the court as ArmNews is not located on a Tumanyan Street [as is written in the company's legal address].
However, the company was informed about the sitting through Datalex electronic information system. In the morning the court received a written letter from ArmNews but neither A1+'s lawyer nor NCTR representative Artak Sargysan were informed of its contents. During today's court session the sides asked for time to get acquainted with the letter.
Judge Argishti Ghazaryan again prohibited A1+ from filming the session comparing the courtroom with a bedroom.
"Doesn't your film crew want to shoot someone's bedroom?" was his reply.
In the frequency tender announced by the state regulator in December 2010, A1+ received only two points from the NCTR compared with 44 points for ArmNews.
NCTR head Grigor Amalian and six members of the commission gave a zero grade to the A1+ bid. One commission member gave the company two points. In the end, the commission unanimously voted to recognize ArmNews as the winner, saying A1+ had had submitted a number of fake financial documents bearing the seal of a British-registered company that stopped operating in 2007. A1+ director Mesrop Movsesyan denied accusation saying the company in question has affiliates in different countries, which accounted for the confusion.
