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ARMENIA DAILY DIGEST
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From: Ina Iankulova (iiankulova@sorosny.org)
Date: Mon Apr 14 2003 - 12:35:14 EDT
ARMENIAN PARLIAMENT HOBBLED BY OPPOSITION BOYCOTT
The Armenian parliament's consideration of several pending bills was halted on 11 April after the failure to secure a quorum of deputies because of an organized boycott of parliamentary sessions by the opposition, RFE/RL's Yerevan bureau reported. The lack of a quorum is preventing any official debate or voting on several priority legislative issues, including the draft Criminal Code and a new law on the media. The delay essentially ends all legislative work for this parliament and puts off any votes on these key bills until after the 25 May election of a new legislature. The failure to pass the draft Criminal Code, which would have replaced capital punishment with life sentences, places the Armenian government in violation of a fundamental obligation arising from its membership in the Council of Europe. The draft law on the media, presented by the government after several revisions, was widely criticized as a threat to press freedom and led to a series of demonstrations in recent weeks. Although this draft
media law would end the requirement that media outlets register with the Justice Ministry, critics stress that the bill still contains several dangerous provisions, including measures requiring media to fully disclose all sources of funding and allowing courts to demand the complete disclosure of journalists' sources of information for the "protection of public interests." RG
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