Human Rights Watch assesses the defence of human rights in Armenia as "unsatisfactory"

In its 2007 report on Armenia, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) treats the defence of human rights in Armenia as "unsatisfactory". The report accents the pressure and prosecution of the opposition.

Thus, according to the report, on October 23 the police arrested seven opposition activists in Yerevan, who were just informing passers-by about the meeting in support of Levon Ter-Petrosyan scheduled on October 26. "The group was released, but later five of them were accused of attacking policemen," the report remarks.

The chapter dealing with the press remarks that on November 12 the State Tax Service accused the Gyumri independent TV Channel "Gala" of tax evasion. The managers of the Channel are sure that tax inspections and other acts of pressure by the authorities were taken in response to Channel's broadcasting in September of L. Ter-Petrosyan presentation, during which he blamed the authorities as "corrupted and mafia-related."

The Human Rights Watch refers to researches of the Yerevan Press Club and "TIM" Research Centre and remarks that now, before the forthcoming presidential election of February 19, 2008, the evening information program of eight broadcasters contained stories about Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan, which were much longer than the time dedicated to all other candidates.

According to the report, threats, attacks and criminal charges against journalists continue. The HRW mentions termination by the Public Radio in July 2007 of the radio station "Free Europe - Azatutyun" (now the station is retransmitted by a private network), beating by unknown persons of the editor-in-chief of the Iskakan Iravunk" newspaper Ovannes Galadzyan, arsons of the cars belonging to the founder of the "Football-Plus" newspaper Suren Bagdasaryan and independent journalist Gagik Shamshyan, rejection by the court of the petition of the advocate of the editor of the oppositional newspaper "Zhamanak Yerevan" Arman Babadzhanyan on reduction of term of imprisonment for forgery of documents with the aim to escape military service from 4 to 3.5 years.