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The State Pays Damages to Journalists [June 19, 2006] An event has occurred that is unprecedented in the history of the relationship between the Armenian mass media and the government. A suit brought by the Investigative Journalists NGO in 2004 against the Yerevan Mayor's Office for refusing to provide the organization with an open information has ended in victory. The court has obliged the Mayor's Office to provide the information in question (decisions by previous mayors connected to land allocations in the park surrounding the Opera House) and ordered the Ministry of Finances and Economy to pay 300,000 Drams (about $720) to the Investigative Journalists damages caused by the illegal actions of an official. On June 16, 2006, the journalists received a 300,000-dram bond issued by the Ministry of Finances and Economy. This precedent should serve as an example to both reporters who are denied access to public information and officials who refuse to provide it. From now on, the bureaucrats must understand a refusal to provide any reporter or citizen with information will cause material damage to the state budget of Armenia. Hetq |
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