New York, March 3, 2008—Armenian authorities should immediately lift
restrictions on independent news reporting and the censorship of independent
news Web sites, steps imposed when President Robert Kocharian declared a state
of emergency on Saturday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Kocharian declared a 20-day state of emergency after clashes between government
troops and opposition supporters in the capital, Yereven, resulted in eight
deaths and more than 100 injuries, according to international press reports.
Protesters claimed that vote-rigging marred the February 19 presidential
election that ended in victory for Kocharian’s hand-picked successor, Serzh
Sarkisian. Hundreds of troops were deployed in Yerevan to clamp down on the
demonstrations. The state of emergency also banned public gatherings, set travel
restrictions, and gave police expanded search powers, according to international
news accounts.

As part of the declaration, Kocharian ordered media outlets to cite only
official sources when reporting on national politics. Several independent and
opposition news Web sites that operate under Armenian domain names were also
blocked today. They included Web sites run by the pro-opposition news agency A1+
and the independent newspapers Aravot (Morning) and Aikakan Zhamanak (Armenian
Time), according to the news agency Armenia Today. Armenia Today reported that
local Internet users received a message that said: “Warning! As ordered by a
state decree, some informational Web sites will not be accessible.” The Armenian
Service of the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) was blocked
within the country.

“We’re alarmed by this blatant attempt to censor news of the disputed election,”
CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon said. “We call on Armenian authorities to
withdraw the ban on independent newsgathering and dissemination, and restore
access to independent and opposition media.”

Sarkisian took about 53 percent of the vote on February 19, according to
official results, and is due to take office in April. Rival candidate Levon
Ter-Petrosian, who was Armenia’s first post-Soviet president, contested the
results and claimed the election was rigged, according to RFE/RL.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which monitored the
election, said the vote was mostly in conformance with international standards.
But OSCE monitors noted flaws in vote-counting and said officials blurred
partisan and governmental interests.

Up to 20,000 Ter-Petrosian supporters began rallying in Yerevan on February 21;
their skepticism about the results was fanned when two Central Elections
Commission members and a deputy prosecutor general publicly questioned the
fairness of the vote, RFE/RL reported.

Authorities deployed police when Ter-Petrosian’s supporters built a tent camp on
the capital’s Freedom Square and groups of protesters staged rallies in front of
different government buildings, the news agency Regnum reported. The stand-off
reached its peak on Saturday morning when police, claiming that they had
received reports of alleged arms distribution and coup plotting, started
dismantling the tents, according to local press reports.

Angered protesters, in turn, attacked police with metal rods and Molotov
cocktails, burned cars, and looted local shops, Reutersreported. The protests
calmed when Ter-Petrosian called on Sunday for a halt to the violence, Regnum
said.