Freedom of Information Center of Armenia.

Jointly with the RA Prosecutor General’s Office, FOI Center organized a working discussion on May 2-3, in Aghveran, which was attended by ten journalists and ten marz and community prosecutors. The discussion focused on the freedom of information and expression in the RA prosecutorial system.

Deputy Prosecutor General Mnatsakan Sargsyan delivered an opening address, during which he emphasized the importance of such meetings, because this is where mutual trust is developed and journalists get a better understanding of prosecutorial activities. “It is also important that journalist help us, because every report, every media reaction is a lead for us.” In her turn, president of the Freedom of Information Center Shushan Doydoyan said in her speech that “such meetings provide an opportunity for prosecutors and journalists to have a dialogue, which is exactly how mutual trust is developed.”

The working discussion’s agenda included a number of controversial issues: peculiarities of freedom of information in the RA prosecutorial system, freedom of information and expression and the presumption of innocence, as well as freedom of information and expression and the notion of confidentiality of investigation. The participants received a more detailed and comprehensive understanding of these issues through discussions of various situations and debates.

The journalists were interested in where is the line between freedom of information and expression, on the one hand, and presumption of innocence, on the other hand. “The presumption of innocence is an idea born with the law. The presumption of innocence works until a lawful verdict comes into effect.” The presenter also added that journalists can report facts to the public, but they should refrain from saying who is guilty and who is innocent. “This is the area where law-enforcement authorities want to provide limited information about a case and not to pass any judgments in order to uphold the principle of the presumption of innocence, whereas journalists want to provide as much information to the public as possible in order to ensure transparency and openness,” said Armen Ashrafyan, Head of the Anti-Corruption and Anti-Organized Crime Department of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office.

The prosecutors, who participated in the discussion, wanted to know whether a prosecutor’s office is required to honor requests for information that their office is not a primary holder of. The answer was that the office is not required to provide that kind of information but it can refer the requesters to those who actually possess the required piece of information. Otherwise the prosecutor’s office would be providing information about various other agencies, because it has full information about the activities of a number of agencies and organizations.

“The working discussion was rather productive and interesting. However, we would like representatives of the police to be present at future discussions, because there are many open questions that could only be answered in joint meetings,” said the participants at the end of the two-day seminar.