The National Commission for Television and Radio Responds to Public Television's Request and Calls for No Censorship

The Chairman of the National Commission for Television and Radio, Tigran Hakobyan, has responded to the executive director of Public Television, Hovhannes Movsisyan, regarding a letter sent by Movsisyan. According to reports from Hraparak, Movsisyan had inquired whether they had committed any violations by not broadcasting certain political parties' campaign videos, citing defamation and insults within those videos.

“Public Television believes that there are attempts to exert political pressure on the First Channel. Public Television is appealing to the Central Electoral Commission, the Television and Radio Commission, the Human Rights Defender, as well as international observers, and calls upon them to uphold Public Television’s commitment to objectivity and non-discrimination,” the statement read.

Recently, various political factions have provided Public Television with legally questionable campaign videos that contain calls for violence, copyright infringements, insulting content, and defamation. The day before, Public Television sent a letter to all political entities participating in the elections, urging them to refrain from providing videos that may violate the laws of the Republic of Armenia, warning that such issues may serve as grounds for not broadcasting the videos on Public Television.

Public Television denies that it is only assessing possible violations in videos from certain political forces. “All political forces are equal before the law. To date, corrections have been made in several videos in cooperation with parties and alliances. To avoid such incidents, Public Television expects urgent consultancy opinions from the aforementioned bodies to ensure clear and comprehensive approaches, expressing readiness to provide any necessary materials,” the letter stated.

RATC urges Hovhannes Movsisyan to fulfill the obligations undertaken.