“The authorities of Armenia will find the whole solution of the A1+,” told the RFL the judge of Armenia in the European Court of Human Rights Alvina Gyulumyan. When speaking of the decision of the European Court of Human Rights against the Armenian government and the allegations that the government of Armenia has only party abided with the verdict Gyulumyan mentioned, “Indeed, criticism is not a desirable thing in the international instance and indeed it may create a certain impression among certain people about our country, which would have a decisive role in certain cases. All this should be taken into account and if we had become members of the mentioned international organization we had taken certain obligations and responsibilities. No one has ever made to take on these obligations and become a member of this organization. It means that since we had adopted the rules of the game then we should play.” Let us remember that the European Court based on its June 17, 2008 decision confirmed that in the case of the A1+ the right of the TV channel to freely express opinion and broadcast was violated and according to that the state should pay a 30.000-Euro fine to the A1+ for grievances and court expenses. The previous twelve bids made by A1+ since 2002 proved unsuccessful. Mesrop Movsesyan, the head of the television’s founding company, Meltex, told RFL that the application submitted to the National Commission on Television and Radio (HRAH) is “a good presentation” and that the company intends to be guided by its submitted project should it succeed in receiving a license. Movsesyan did not reveal details, but said that “the chosen direction is news and 24-hour broadcast.” “The rest will be clear after the unsealing of the contest package,” he added. The Armenian authorities controversially suspended, for two years, the supposedly competitive licensing process in 2008 citing the need to expedite the country’s transition to mandatory digital broadcasting by 2013. Movsesyan has numerously mentioned that the Armenian government has only partly abided with the verdict of the European Court as they only paid the money. October 20 was the last day for the submission of applications and accompanying documents in the tender for broadcasting licenses. The outcomes of the contest are due to be announced in December. In the words of Alvina Gyulumyan the European Court of Human Rights after the adoption of the verdict can have no influence on the enforcement of the verdict. “After the adoption of the verdict the control of the verdict is the duty of the Ministerial Committee of the Council of Europe and the Court cannot do anything in that regard. It can only claim that its decisions and verdicts are legally binding for the countries,” said Gyulumyan.
