RADIO LIBERTY MAY BE FORCED OFF THE AIR

UNCLAS YEREVAN 000829

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/CARC, EUR/PPD

E.O. 12958; N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM OPRC KMDR KPAO AM
SUBJECT: RADIO LIBERTY MAY BE FORCED OFF THE AIR


(U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly.

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SUMMARY
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1. (SBU) The National Assembly appears poised to enact a pair of
laws that seem aimed directly at forcing RFE/RL off the airwaves.
One provision will block state radio from airing the broadcasts,
while a companion amendment in another law will impose hefty taxes
on any commercial broadcaster airing the program. We have reached
out to the chairman of parliament's powerful State and Legal Affairs
Committee with our concerns, and are trying to reach the president's
chief of staff. END SUMMARY.


2. (SBU) Programming from Radio Liberty might be forced off the air
in Armenia if proposed amendments to the "Public Television and
Radio" and "Stamp Duty" laws are approved by the parliament. Word
of these draft amendments became public June 27. According to the
proposed amendment to the law on "Public Television and Radio," the
broadcast of foreign radio and TV channels through the use of public
television and radio frequencies will be prohibited. The second
amendment proposed to the law on "Stamp Duty" states that any
foreign mass media transmitted by any Armenian radio and television
station will require a payment of 70,000 Armenian drams (roughly USD
200) for each transmission -- a hefty fee in the Armenian context.



3. (SBU) Yerevan Press Club (YPC) Director Boris Navasardian told us
that both amendments are directed specifically against Radio Free
Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). According to him, if the amendments
to the law on "Public Television and Radio" pass, Radio Liberty will
have to stop broadcasting on public radio and seek a private station
to carry its programming. But Navasardian claims that this would
prove extremely difficult because the proposed amendment to the law
on "Stamp Duty" would prevent other radio stations from broadcasting
Radio Liberty as no station would agree to pay 70,000 AMD for each
transmission of Radio Liberty. The head of YPC stressed that if
Radio Liberty followed its present schedule, then any radio station
broadcasting its programming would have to pay approximately 25,000
USD per month for its transmission.


4. (SBU) Harry Tamrazian, the Director of RFE/RL Armenian Service
based in Prague informed Embassy Yerevan that with these amendments,
the Armenian government "is trying to deprive Armenian people of
receiving full and unbiased information from the only reliable media
outlet." Tamrazian stated that Radio Liberty presently uses both
Public Radio as well as private/commercial frequencies ("Radio Hay"
and "Ardzagank"). Tamrazian believed that the amendments would
essentially force all foreign media out of Armenian inasmuch as the
law on "Stamp Duty" would make it financially unviable for private
radio stations to broadcast foreign media outlets.


5. (SBU) CDA e-mailed an inquiry, noting our concerns, to State and
Legal Affairs Committee chairman David Harutyunian, the former
Justice Minister with whom we have worked very collegially in the
past. CDA also reached out to presidential chief of staff Armen
Gevorgian, but Gevorgian has yet to return the call.

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COMMENT
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6. (SBU) This law seems aimed exclusively at Radio Liberty. We are
unaware of any other radio programming that would be affected. The
action follows on several letters from Presidential Spokesman Victor
Soghomian in which he complains of the anti-government "bias" of
Radio Liberty's reporting. We will communicate to Armenian leaders
that the United States would take a very dim view of Armenia's
enacting legal provisions transparently aimed at shutting down Radio
Liberty broadcasts.

GODFREY