Organised within the framework of the Council of Europe’s Campaign for the Safety of Journalists – Journalists Matter, the training event organized in Yerevan, Armenia took place on 17-18 December 2024.
The seminar brought together police officers, journalists, and NGO practitioners for a two-days program moderated by two experienced trainers (Peter Noorlander and Ara Ghazaryan). “This course is important because it gives journalists and police officers an opportunity to engage in dialogue. It also provides an opportunity to develop the police’s understanding of the difficulties journalists face, as well as for journalists to understand how the police work. Thus, such training sessions are an important step toward establishing closer cooperation between journalists and police officers, which contributes to the creation of a unified and safe working environment for both”, said Peter Noorlander who presented and moderated sessions on topics such as European standards and the importance of media freedom in democratic societies, the relevant caselaw of the ECtHR on issues related to freedom of expression and safety of journalists, the Council of Europe Recommendation CM/Rec(2016)4 and positive practices from other European contexts.
The event was organised by the Council of Europe with the joint support of both the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event also included sessions in which the relevant Armenian legislation was discussed together with ideas on how to improve the cooperation and relation between journalists and police. “The training course is proceeding effectively because different ideas are clashing. Interactions, disagreements, and differences of opinion between journalists and police officers are welcomed, as they can bring improvements to the work of both journalists and law enforcement officers” - were the conclusions of Ara Ghazaryan. These ideas were also echoed by the Press Secretary of the Minister of Internal Affairs and Head of Public Communication and Awareness Department – Narek Sargsyan who emphasized the importance of organizing such occasions for dialogue on a regular basis.
