National Press Club of Armenia objects bill on mass media

The National Press Club (NPC) of Armenia raises its concern about the quickly inclusion of a bill "On the Media" on the agenda of the Armenian National Assembly. It believes such haste was caused by political motives. It is noted in the club's statement that the OSCE Minsk Group put new proposals for the Nagorno-Karabah conflict settlement on the bargaining table. "On the threshold of these discussions the adoption of the law that regulates authorities' control over the media has only one purpose - to prevent the declassification of those proposals and conducting of public discussions," reads the statement of the Armenian NPC.

The adoption of such a law in the time that is so decisive for Armenia is inadmissible, therefore it must be prevented by common efforts, stresses the authors of the document.

The NPC presented an alternative bill "On the Media" vouching for independence and freedom of activity of the media.