Free speech only on the streets?
"The opening of "A1+" may be fatal for the current and other similar governments," says advocate Vardan Harutyunyan. That is why he believes that the National Commission on Television and Radio will not provide any one of the 18 cables to "A1+".
The advocate has no hope that the tender will be free and fair and considers free speech as the biggest danger facing the authorities. That is also the reason why, according to him, "all roads are closed down during the opposition's rallies so that people won't go."
As far as freedom of speech in general is concerned, he finds that there is only the freedom to express freely and the power of that freedom is another story."
The advocate emphasizes that the freedom of speech is not the freedom that is accessible to citizens.
"What the officials say and what they see on the streets of Yerevan contradict each other. The life in reality is totally different," said one citizen.
The majority of citizens who were surveyed told "A1+" that they are not deprived of the right to freedom of expression, but there are no free television companies in Armenia.
"We can speak freely, but who needs that when nobody takes that into account," said Artak, 29. Karen, 39, says television stations show the opposite of what people hear on the streets.
Lida, 46, reads all the opposition's newspapers, watches the news and then "tries to find the reality". She says at least that helps her read and listen to what the officials have to say.
Anna, 28, mentioned that people are sometimes deprived of the right to express themselves freely. "For instance, no matter how much the administration makes mistakes at the workplace, we don't express our views because that will enable the administration to fire us."
There were some citizens who had trouble answering the question.
