Article 24 of the Constitution of Armenia states that everyone is entitled to freedom of speech, including the freedom to seek, receive and disseminate information and ideas through any medium of information. The rights prescribed in this article are envisaged for all citizens of the state, however, in the city of Alaverdi it is difficult even for journalists to get information from certain state institutions, and for ordinary citizen it is impossible.

Larissa Paremuzyan, a contributing journalist for the newspapers Aravot and Haykakan Zhamanak , finds, "It requires heroism for a journalist to receive information from the local authorities in Alaverdi. Secrecy reigns in all establishments". The news editor of the local Corner +3 TV station, Karine Simonyan, holds the same opinion: "It is a painful fact that often even the intent of these officials to not provide information takes the shape of an official document. For instance, very often they produce papers stating that their superiors prohibit providing information to the mass media". Thus, in a letter to the regional tax departments dated September 10, 2001 (reference number S-2054/9), Deputy Minister of State Revenues Yeganyan orders, "In accordance with the decisions of the meeting of July 30, 2001 at the office of the minister of state revenues, the provision of information to the mass media-- information related to business entities, information or other documents of law-enforcement agencies-- should be carried out only by prior arrangement with the Minister of State Revenues of Armenia". Head of the Marz Tax Department Vardanyan distributed the letter among all the regional offices with the inscription "to ensure enforcement". And although this ministry does not exist anymore, the requirements of the order are still held sacred.

It turns out that for regional journalists, the obstacles are almost insurmountable. First, the regional mass media by virtue of their status do not have the financial resources to send their journalists to the capital in order to get information. On the other hand, means of communication are underdeveloped, and the necessary culture to employ them is missing.

I don't know about Yerevan, but here the reminder of the right to get information directly from the minister is a farce, for it is highly doubtful that any "venerable minister" will deign to grant the right to receive information to any regional news outfit.

Thus, in the year 2001, all our attempts to get information from the Ministry of Education regarding the number of the secondary schools operating in the republic failed. During a nervous two-day struggle over the telephone, the public relations department suggested we get this information from the financial department. The financial department referred us to the schools department. Finally they suggested we get these figures from the "Law on the Budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2001". We too knew of this possibility, but there was no single copy of the law in Alaverdi. It is the same picture in the regional departments of security, police, treasury, and customs. And we should add here the regional offices of the electricity supply network, railroad, ArmenTel, and the hospitals and polyclinics that are under local governance.

State officials are especially immovable when they are requested to provide information regarding financial matters. Larissa Paremuzyan is particularly dismayed that although all organizations, including the mayor's office, may present their draft budgets in vague ways, "in recent years we have been left waiting to learn how budget expenditures were made, for example, the payments of wages and salaries, how other spending was done. The expenditures of institutions are kept secret. We have recently conducted an investigation into the embezzlement of diesel oil belonging to the schools of general education. However, the facts of the embezzlement have not been discussed in any circle".

In fact, only information regarding the activity of the local administration is more or less accessible to journalists. However, here too, some events and certain domains are often shrouded in a veil of mystery. According to the news editor of the Alvord TV station, during the three and a half years they have been working, they have managed to videotape only about three sittings of the local council. Usually, the cameraman and the journalists are turned out of the meeting room and deliberations continued. In general, they have never had an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the decisions of the council. This has always been explained by the secrecy of the decisions made. It is hard to say what kind of secrets about community governance the councilman elected by this very community may have. Meanwhile, by doing this, the council violates the law on local government.

Alaverdi