Yesterday, it became known that former police chief Hayk Harutyunyan was found dead. After it, Hayeli.am and Armlur.am published an article. According to the publication, before his death Hayk Harutyunyan said: “I am fed up with the Prosecutor General and Sasun Khachatryan, who, for months now, force me to provide false testimony against Robert Kocharyan and Gegham Petrosyan: the case is they are not guilty.”
In an interview with 168.am, Knar Manukyan, the editor-in-chief of Armlur.am and Angela Tovmasyan, the editor of Hayeli.am, confirmed that after the publication they had been invited to the Investigative Committee for interrogation as a witness.
According to Article 5 (1) of the RA Law on Mass Media, the media are not obliged to disclose a source (see Article 5 (1) of the Law). Second paragraph of the same article has it: “Disclosure of the source of information to the one carrying out media activities, as well as to the journalist may be imposed by a court decision on a criminal case for the detection of a grave or particularly grave crime if the need for criminal and legal protection of the public interest is more serious that the public’s interest in not disclosing the source of information, and all other means of protecting public interest are used. In that case, at the journalist’s request, the trial is conducted behind closed doors.”
According to Articles 19, 4 and 5 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, grave and particularly grave crimes are considered those crimes for which the maximum penalty does not exceed ten years’ imprisonment or provides more than ten years՛ or life imprisonment.
“Media Advocate” urges the Investigative Committee and law enforcement bodies to refrain from putting pressure on media and seeking to disclose sources of pressure. The above-mentioned shows that Investigative Committee has yet to confirm whether the act was committed intentionally or not, in order to classify the happening as a grave or particularly grave crime, and then it may apply to the court and request that, in accordance with a court decision, media representatives will be granted the status of witnesses and only afterwards, with the participation of media representatives, hold a closed or public hearing (as the media would like).
“Media Advocate” is ready to provide legal assistance to the media and to protect the interests of the media in accordance with the RA and international laws. Such pressure on the media and the demand to disclose sources may lead to a situation where people who hold confidential but important information of public interest, avoid disclosing information.
P.S. International experience has provided examples of non-disclosure of sources that have helped to uncover out the legitimacy. Such brilliant example is the work of two “Washington Post” reporters, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodsworth, in which their work with their “secret source” revealed the Watergate scandal, as a result of which US President Richard Nixon resigned. Only 31 years later, on May 31, 2005, at the age of 90, “the secret source”, Mark Felt, decided to reveal himself.
