Armenia implements "Week of Freedom" project

On September 21-28, Armenia holds the "Week of Freedom of Information", dated to the International Day of Freedom of Information.

Within the week, on September 21, the Independence Day of Armenia, Yerevan hosted an action "You Have Right to Be Informed", organized by the Centre of Freedom of Information (CFI). The participants of the action, dressed in T-shirts, marched through the main streets of the capital and disseminated leaflets calling independent Armenian citizens to learn their rights.

The action was mainly attended by students of the Department of Journalism of the Yerevan State University (YSU).

"I believe that every human should think about and realize that he or she has the right to receive information. And, in my turn, I want to contribute to this cause. However, while spreading leaflets and talking to people, I realized that they are not so much interested in the campaign, its goals and objectives, but just wondering who these people marching along the streets and disseminating leaflets are. Of course, there are those, who came up themselves and asked about their rights," said Rona Agaronyan, a third-year student of journalism of the YSU.

According to her story, "the Yerevan State University, as a global system, has no freedom of speech whatsoever. However, it all depends on the individual. If a person has a desire to be free, then, for him or her, the freedom of expression and information will be everywhere, be it at college or university, or anywhere else."

"If I need information, I can hardly get it in our university from the first try. I'll have to persistently go to the end. Very often, they put restrictions on both at the dean's and rector's offices. But we must be very clear about our rights and follow them," the student said.

She believes that one action cannot bring changes; they should be regular; and only then, results can be achieved.

Anoush Amirbekyan, another student of journalism, believes that they teach at their department how to properly exercise one's rights. She argues that their voices are always heard, and the raised issues receive at least some solution.

"Very often, we are restricted in attending various training courses outside the university, arguing that it has everything you need. Sometimes, we act contrary to lecturers. We try to follow the principle: protect our rights ourselves and help those who do not know about them. We want everyone to know that we are masters of our own state. And we hold the today's action for this particular purpose," she said.

"I don't know my rights, because I'm not aware of the laws of Armenia, since they are not translated into Russian. I speak Russian, and it is very difficult for me to overcome the language barrier. At my age of 65, I don't even wish to do so. But if you compare the period when I arrived in Armenia, that is, the Soviet period, with the present time - the difference is huge. Now, everyone can express his or her opinion," said Lyudmila Musaelyan.