As Armenia prepares to celebrate its status as UNESCO World Book Capital, one young author has found himself in hot water after a penning a literary work which references the conditions faced by the country’s mainly conscript army. Threatened with prosecution under article 263 of the former Soviet republic’s Criminal Code, 24-year-old Hovhannes Ishkhanyan could face up to two years in prison for Demob Day.
Despite having a print run of just 300, of which only 120 copies have sold, the Armenian military maintains that the short-story collection is insulting to itself and also to the Armenian Orthodox Church and the mothers of soldiers.
Ishkhanyan’s supporters allege that the army has been embarrassed in the last few years by stories of harassment, hazing and non-combat deaths. Activists accuse the military of failing to properly investigate abuse, and portraying murders as suicides.
Of the 16 fictional stories in the “The Day of Discharge” three examine hazing rituals, and abuse in the army.
The issue is particularly sensitive in Armenia, still effectively in a state of war with neighbouring Azerbaijan. Only 32 of 228 conscripts who have died between 2007 and 2011 were killed by enemy fire according to official statistics quoted by the local Armenian media, and in recent years videos uploaded to YouTube showing the abuse of conscripts have angered the public.
In response to criticism in October 2011, the Armenian Defence Minister, Seyran Ohanyan announced that he “considers the non-stop deliberate manipulations of army issues by certain groups to be unacceptable. […] From now on, the Defense Ministry will be most strict with those defaming our army.” Writers and human rights activists believe Ishkhanyan’s troubles mark an attempt to close down public debate on the issue.
Two local bookshops have pulled the title from their shelves although one other continues to sell it and on 27 February Ishkhanyan was nonetheless called in for questioning. “I did not make a stir thinking they would not call me and everything would smooth down but they did not and transferred the case to the Central Department of Yerevan police. I was called there and asked the same questions,” the author told online publication Armenia Now.
“First they raised the question of the army then they understood they couldn’t subject me to any liability and now they say that my works contain pornographic scenes and they have applied to the Ministry of Culture,” he explained, adding that the only article a criminal case can be brought is Article 263 of the RA Criminal Code dealing with pornographic materials and which carries with it the possibility of two months to a maximum of two years imprisonment.
Ishkhanyan was questioned for a second time on 24 March, the book’s publisher was interrogated on 4 April.
“[W]e don’t see any legal grounds for prosecution. This can be assessed by us as censorship later, but I cannot make comments today since we have only just received an application from Hovhannes Ishkhanyan and the case is in progress,” Armenia’s Human Rights Ombudsperson Karen Andreasyan told the Aravot newspaper.
Writers in the Armenian Diaspora have come to Ishkhanyan’s defence, with two, Nancy Agabian and Nancy Krikorian launching a petition in Ishkhanyan’s defence.
“Literature is one means by which an open society examines, discusses and debates the problems it faces,” the prominent authors wrote. “A celebration of the five hundred year anniversary of books in Armenia rings hollow at this time when even one book, dealing with a timely and crucial issue of Armenian society, does not have a chance of being read.”
Speaking to Index, the author’s father, established investigative journalist Vahan Ishkhanyan, noted the more personal repercussions of the furore:
Because the affair is still open Hovhannes and his relatives are under permanent stress. During the Soviet era many writers were under pressure in Armenia, but this is the first time in 20 years of independence that they are trying to file a case for a work of fiction.
Onnik Krikorian is a British journalist and photojournalist based in Armenia and regional editor for the Caucasus at Global Voices Online. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, New Internationalist, Scotsman and the Institute for War & Peace Reporting, among others, and he regularly fixes for Al Jazeera English, BBC and the Wall Street Journal. He tweets at @onewmphoto.
Two media barons took to the stand at the Leveson Inquiry this afternoon as the first day of “proprietors week” continued.
Evgeny Lebedev, proprietor of the Independent and the London Evening Standard stressed the importance of maintaining a free, strong and robust press, describing it as an “element of British democracy which needs to be preserved at any cost”.
He added: “Those who have committed crimes need to be punished. As we’ve seen in recent revelations there’s been an extraordinary abuse of power by the press and I think the outcome of the Inquiry should prevent that from happening again.”
Lebedev also expressed concerns that intense regulation of meetings between proprietors and politicians risks creating a society where elements become feeble. He said: “If the press becomes too feeble, we end up with a tyranny of consensus.”
He added that this kind of scrutiny would “completely change the balance of how things work in Westminster,” and agreed when asked if Lebedev meant that meetings between the press and politicians was “part of the discourse of politics”.
Lebedev explained that both the Evening Standard and the Independent both aimed “to support and champion world class journalism that is ethically sound, in the public interest and an aid to Britain’s democracy”, despite their differing political leanings.
Counsel Carine Patry Hoskins read the court an excerpt from an article published in the New Statesman from July 2011, in which Boris Johnson “gushed” about the oligarch: “I’m proud to call him a friend”. Lebedev told the court “there are varying degrees of friendship, but yes, I would consider him a friend.”
Stressing that he considered himself to be a Londoner, Lebedev added that he and Boris Johnson only discussed topics that “any Londoner would be interested in”.
Lebedev added that as they were operating within “the same sphere of existence” it was important for him to maintain relationships with politicians, including the Mayor of London, and the Prime Minister. He described meeting with Johnson, along with David Cameron, former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, UKIP leader Nigel Farage, and explained he would soon be meeting newly-elected MP George Galloway.
Despite his relationship with politicians, and his interest in politics, the proprietor told the court he had never been asked by the Prime Minister to support a particular political party or policy.
In terms of the future of media regulation, Lebedev supported the concept of a statutory underpinning, and said that every part of the industry needed to be involved, and added that “self regulation should not be shrouded in impenetrable jargon”.
Also appearing before the court, Aidan Barclay, chairman of the Daily Telegraph publisher Telegraph Media Group (TMG), described his relationship with politicians.
Accepting that the Telegraph is unapologetically Conservative “with both a small and large C”, Barclay described a “cordial business relationship” with David Cameron.
The court heard how Barclay sent a series of texts to Cameron, congratulating him on the birth of his daughter, and referring to a “daily call” to the paper during the elections.
Barclay described his relationship with Tony Blair as “relaxed and social” and added that despite Blair’s interest in the press, there was never any discussion of topics of an editorial nature.
He added that being in touch with politicians enabled newspapers to do their jobs properly: “It’s very important to me that the Telegraph is involved in everything that goes on. In 2004, when we arrived at the Telegraph, it was in a situation where it never spoke to the Labour party and had fallen out with the Conservative party.”
Barclay also explained that even though the Operation Motorman leak table contained no entries in relation to TMG, the organisation took steps to make sure no journalists had been involved with payment to private investigators.
In terms of regulation, Barclay said it was necessary to strike a balance between “some standards of operations”, but it was important not to destroy the industry through “regulation creep”.
He added: “I’m concerned that we don’t go too far in the proposals, rules and regulations can layer on top of one another”.
Follow Index’s coverage of the Leveson Inquiry @IndexLeveson
Three journalists from Channel 4, including foreign affairs correspondent Jonathan Miller, were arrested while filming a demonstration on Sunday. The arrest of the journalists, along with a local driver and prominent Bahraini human rights activist was reportedly “aggressive”.
Bahrain’s Information Affairs Authority (IAA) tweeted today that the journalists were in violation of “media rules” for entering the country without accreditation.
International media was given limited access to the country during the controversial race, as journalists from Sky News, Financial Times, CNN, and Reuters were denied entry. According to the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, Japanese journalists from Asahi Newspaper were detained while covering protests. Local fixers and journalists are also under threat — photojournalist Mazen Mahdi claimed that police threatened to break his camera while covering a protest yesterday. Blogger and activist Mohammed Hasan was arrested and detained on Friday, and arrested once again Sunday with journalist Colin Freeman of the Sunday Telegraph. He was reportedly beaten during his initial arrest.
While the IAA has claimed that it allows the foreign media and workers to monitor ongoing unrest freely, this has not been the case. Journalists and rights workers were barred from entering Bahrain in the time leading up to the anniversary of Bahrain’s unrest, 14 February.
Bahrain should allow foreign media to have unfettered access to the country, and local fixers and activists should not be targeted for working with international journalists.
The Index Freedom of Expression Awards took place on 28 March in London. Before an audience of 400, Jonathan Dimbleby presented awards to the heroes of free expression — those who have put their lives and jobs at risk to defend the inalienable right to express themselves freely
As Armenia prepares to celebrate its status as UNESCO World Book Capital, one young author has found himself in hot water after a penning a literary work which references the conditions faced by the country’s mainly conscript army. Threatened with prosecution under article 263 of the former Soviet republic’s Criminal Code, 24-year-old Hovhannes Ishkhanyan could face up to two years in prison for Demob Day.