The 2-day Barcamp Yerevan 2011 will commence on June 4 at the American University of Armenia. It will join together the IT specialists and all the geeks. This name is given to those who no longer imagine the life without social media.

Young people have been waiting for this informal event for a year, since the last day of the last year event, when the participants came to an agreement to communicate through the internet with an expectation of another meeting after a year.

Barcamp is a new-format event consisted of open discussions and presentations originated in the United States more than 5 years ago. In Armenia, Barcamp is being organized since 2009. Here participants represent their achievements in the field of information technology and the internet, as well as exchange ideas and get acquainted with each other.

[[wysiwyg_imageupload:101:height=179,width=241]]Here, contrary to traditional conferences, there are no speakers: each of the participants may provide a presentation, as well as launch a discussion, the Barcamp agenda is formed by the participants and on the basis of the topics proposed by them.

Read More »Again Together: Barcamp Yerevan 2011 Uniting the Geeks

Eynulla Fatullayev, a journalist and newspaper editor who had turned into one of the symbols of Azerbaijan’s crackdown on freedom of expression, walked free today after having spent some four years in jail.

Fatullayev was released along with dozens of other inmates after being pardoned by Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

His release was welcomed by many in Azerbaijan and also by international media groups that had for years campaigned on his behalf.

Speaking to RFE/RL less than two hours after being freed, Fatullayev said he believes those efforts played a key role in the government’s decision to set him free.

Fatullayev added that his unexpected freedom felt like “a miracle” that was difficult to  understand.

“I’m still trying to [understand] the situation,” he said. “It’s a miracle for me. I couldn’t imagine it. It’s a real surprise for me.”

Fatullayev, editor of the now closed newspaper “Realny Azerbaijan,” was arrested  in 2007 and sentenced to 8.5 years in jail on charges including tax evasion and instigation of terror. 

Read More »Eynulla Fatullayev Released After Four Years In Prison

The amnesty will be granted also to the imprisoned editor-in-chief of the “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily Nikol Pashinyan. The news was told about by the RA Minister of Justice Hrayr Tovmasyan on the TV channel “Shant” during the “Herankar” (Prospect) program. On Wednesday, May 25, commenting on the decision draft of amnesty at the National Assembly Tovmasyan referred also to Pashinyan.

On may 20 with a propasal to announce amnesty president Serzh Sargsyan applied to the National Assembly. On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Armenia’s independence amnesty will be applied to those who have committed a crime until May 1, 2011 inclusive.

“400 convicts will be freed while about 400 others will have their prison sentences shortened,” says the Minister of Justice.

The editor-in-chief of the “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily is imprisoned for about two years, since July 2009. The decision on amnesty adopted by the National Assembly earlier, on June 19, was not granted to Nikol Pashinyan.

Pashinyan was wanted after the post-electoral events of 2008, and more than a year later, on July 1, 2009, he voluntarily surrendered to the law enforcement bodies. He was immediately arrested.

Read More »Amnesty Will be Granted Also to Nikol Pashinyan

Public Broadcaster reacts to the protest rallies underway in front of its building and states that despite the attempts of the opposition forces to accuse the public broadcaster in biased reporting, the TV-channel does not intend to become an object of manipulation for any political group, furthermore that there are no precise, or evident arguments confirming such accusations.

Public Broadcaster gives opportunity to the opposition representatives to participate and express their opinion at 5 political talk shows being aired at the First Channel.  News programs of the channel also daily report on the requests expressed at the protest rallies and the Second Channel of the public broadcaster broadcasts the protest rallies live without comment.

Public broadcaster intends to create and make available for public the high quality TV and radio programs, which will be free from current, or any other political influence.  Our main principles – independence, unbiased reporting and honesty will not be questioned despite the attempts by any interested political forces.

Source: Media.ge

Read More »Public Broadcaster Statement on the Protest Rallies

According to the website Totalfootball.am, on May 23 the FFA Executive Committee held a session, the first section of which concerned the incident between the chief trainer of “Ararat”  football club Arkady Andreasyan and photojournalist Ashot Arushanyan from Totalfootball.am. The FFA Disciplinary Committee had suggested the Executive Committee to recognize the club’s trainer Arkady Andreasyan as an undesired person in football.

FFA president Ruben Hayrapetyan asked the Executive Committee not to recognize Andreasyan as an undesired person in football and get limited to a warning, as well as to leave in force his disqualification from 10 games and the financial penalty up to 250,000 drams (about $670). The Committee unanimously accepted the proposal.

To recall, on April 23 during the half-time of a football match of the Armenian Premier League “Ararat” – “Pyunik” photojournalist Ashot Arushanyan was beaten by Arkady Andreasyan and his mates.

Source: Totalfootball.am 

Translated by JNews.am

Read More »Arkady Andreasyan Not Recognized as an Undesired Person in Football

On June 13, the Supreme Court of Azerbaijan under the chairmanship of Judge Hafiz Nasibov will consider the appeal of the journalist Eynullah Fatullayev. The journalist’s lawyer, Elchin Sadigov, told Turan about this.

According to him, the appeal was filed in connection with the decision of the Baku Court of Appeals on January 25 to uphold the verdict of the Garadagh district court, which sentenced Fatullayev to 30 months in prison on charges of drug possession.

Fatullayev was convicted twice in 2007 to a total of eight and a half years in prison. In April 2010, the Strasbourg Court declared a violation of his rights and ordered his release. In November, the Supreme Court overturned the verdicts of 2007, but the journalist remained in prison on a new charge of drug possession brought against him in late 2009 Amnesty International considers Fatullayev a “prisoner of conscience”.

Source: http://www.contact.az

Read More »June 13 Supreme Court to Consider Journalist Fatullayev’s Appeal

Journalists are being detained, blocked from recording, insulted and journalistic materials are being taken away from at the protest rallies started in Tbilisi and Batumi May 21.

May 22 Netgazeti journalist Tamaz Kupreishvili was hit in the stomach with a flag-stick by Anzor Bitsadze, son of the former chairman of Georgian parliament Nino Burjanadze when he was trying to get a comment from Burjanadze on the incident taken place in front of the public broadcaster building.

“Nino Burjanadze told me to go and interview policemen and instantly her son hit me in the stomach with a flag-stick, although it did not hurt,” Tamaz Kupreishvili told Media.ge.

According to him, Burjanadze’s press service has contacted him saying that Anzor Bitsadze wants to meet him and apologize for the “misunderstanding” that has taken place.

News agency Interpressnews reported May 22 that an unidentified person in civil clothing took away the video-recording of the clash that took place at the Kostava Avenue in front of the public broadcaster building from their correspondent.  

Read More »Georgia: Violence Against Journalists