Justice Minister receives Harlem Désir, OSCE Media Freedom Representative

Today, Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia, Davit Harutyunyan, hosted the  delegation led by OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir.

During the meeting Minister Harutyunyan and OSCE Representative Désir discussed the state of freedom of speech in Armenia and touched upon more guarantees defined by the amendments to Constitution in 2015 for the right of freedom of expression and the right to information.

According to the Minister, the Ministry of Justice has undertaken to make the legislation compliant with the fundamental law following the constitutional amendments. In this context, Minister Harutyunyan discussed with the partner the current process of legislative reforms aimed at freedom of information, protection of personal data and the rights of journalists, and attached importance to conducting training courses for police officers and journalists engaged in the protection of the public order during rallies.

OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Harlem Désir, noted that Armenia is one of the best partners of OSCE and underlined the willingness of further deepening of the co-operation in the field of freedom of information.

At the end of the meeting an arrangement was reached on receiving an expert opinion on reforming the field of freedom of information, as well as for receiving consultation by OSCE.