H1 Denies 'Honorary' Alliance Access to Legally Mandated Broadcasts

The publicly funded Public Television has subjected the election campaign videos provided by the 'Honorary' alliance to censorship and has rejected their broadcast. This information was shared in a statement by the 'Election Monitoring Committee'.

'Such an action should be regarded as a blatant and undisguised expression of discrimination against an opposition political force. In this way, Public Television limits the political power's right to freedom of speech,' noted Armen Ashotyan, a representative of the mentioned alliance. According to him, Public Television rejected the first video as an insult and the second one as defamation. These qualifications are surprising, not only because Public Television itself provides legal and political assessments of propaganda materials, but also because, in the case of the ruling party, H1 broadcasts videos with much harsher language, evident insults, and baseless accusations.

Following this unlawful action, Public Television is attempting to take the initiative by declaring that it is under political pressure. Meanwhile, it is Public Television that makes political decisions and reserves the right to not broadcast certain election campaign videos.

It is also important to emphasize that no such incidents were recorded during the parliamentary elections held in 2017 and 2018 within the framework of the current electoral code.

We demand that the relevant steps be taken regarding the television station under its control and ensure the broadcast of the 'Honorary' alliance's election campaign videos,' the statement concludes.