Post-Soviet Media Law & Policy Newsletter

Issue 39     Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law     September 30, 1997 

AZERBAIJAN ESTONIA KYRGYZSTAN UKRAINE
AZERBAIJAN

I.  State TV head’s first year in office reviewed.

    AzTV’s activities have been linked with the name of Prof. Nizami Khudiyev over the last year. There are a lot of diverse views about television, which has penetrated all fields of life. Prof. Nizami Khudiyev has been working as chairman of the Azerbaijani State Television and Radio Company for a year now. What has been the most significant aspect of television over this time? What has television and its viewers gained from this? We talked to AzTV political observer Gulu Maharramov to find out about these issues:
[Gulu Maharramov]     I think the appointment of Prof Khudiyev as chairman of the state television and radio company was a most successful decision. During the time he has been working for this company, he has shown that not only is he a scientist of wide knowledge but also a manager able to make non-standard decisions. Our television has gained a chairman who is hardworking and capable of switching to modern ways of working. The chairman has brought a general renaissance, a new aesthetic approach and has strengthened the status and position of television in society. The integration of AzTV into world television over this year is thanks to Khudiyev.
    So far no one has protected [the interests of the TV staff] as openly as Khudiyev does. Fees and payments have tripled. New television programs have been created. In general, television has assumed a new social and political image. At the same time, the improvements in the working and living conditions of its staff are a great incentive for people.
[Q]     There have been global changes in the television company and also on the screen?
[A]     It is not easy to conduct global reforms, to destroy the stereotypes formed over many years and to change its image totally. Leading television companies around the world have spent so much money, time and new technology on this. In deciding to start reforms, Khudiyev faced many complex tasks. Because in order to carry out all this, there was a need not only for creativity but also for equipment to be replaced. On the other hand, there was a need for access to Europe, to expand foreign relations and to bring our programs up to international standards. I think Khudiyev has rendered great services to television by solving many problems in quite a short time.
[Q]     However, the television still broadcasts a lot of official material and limitless praise. Because of this, you sometimes disrupt the program schedules.
[A]     I believe it is not right to blame the television for the large number of official programs and reports about the head of state. This is state television. Its chairman, Khudiyev, is an MP, a disciple of Heydar Aliyev’s school and a member of this leader’s team. Therefore, the television is propagandizing state policy and thereby forming the public mentality, and it also informs the population about the main news in the country. In many countries, it is the television that informs people about the president they themselves elected.

Yeddi Gun, Baku, March 6, 1997

II. Ministry denies censoring Radio Liberty relays.

    The Democratic Party of Azerbaijan [DPA] press service, citing reliable sources, has reported the Azerbaijani National Security Ministry is “editing” the programs of Radio Liberty. The head of the Communications Ministry television and radio production association, Vagif Musayev, resolutely denied this information:
[Musayev]     The television and radio production association is not jamming the programs of Liberty Radio, it rebroadcasts them. Under our agreement, these programs are broadcast every day for five hours from radio station No 1, located near Gyandzhlik metro station. Radio Liberty pays us money for this.
[Q]     Was this agreement signed recently?
[A]     No, this agreement was signed by former State Secretary Shovket Hajiyeva in Germany on the instruction of President Heydar Aliyev. Radio Liberty sent us a satellite receiver under the terms of the agreement. There is only one correct aspect of the report presented by the DPA: this radio station [No 1] did indeed have some jammers before it was reconstructed. Radio Liberty broadcast on shortwave from abroad. In accordance with instructions which we received from Moscow, we swamped these shortwave frequencies with jamming signals.
    At present this radio is broadcasting on 1530 kHz mediumwave. If any political problems concerning the radio station arise, we shall not only switch it off, but close it down. It would be surprising to stop the broadcasting of our own programs.
[Q]     We have noticed interruptions during some broadcasts. What are the reasons for these?
[A]     The agreements we have concluded with the Azerbaijani State Television and Radio Company and the Russian Television and Radio Company contain a paragraph which prohibits the television and radio production association from interfering with the contents of programs broadcast.
    Yesterday Mr Belousov from Radio Liberty phoned us and complained about poor reception of some programs from Baku. Yesterday we gave instructions to check the quality of the broadcasts. Now the broadcasts are perfect and there are no interruptions.
[Q]     You said that you used to jam Radio Liberty on instructions from Moscow. Could this radio be jammed again on the instructions of the National Security Ministry?
[A]     At present all the procedures are being changed. One would have to spend a lot of time to install these jamming installations again. We broadcast programs on mediumwave. Previously Radio Liberty broadcast from Spain on shortwave and these frequencies were jammed by jamming signals. An international convention prohibits jamming mediumwave. We did not jam these [mediumwave] frequencies even when the USSR existed. At the present time it is not possible to jam programs broadcast on mediumwave and even Russia would fail to do this if it ever wanted to.

Press Fakt, Azeri, August 22-28, 1997

ESTONIA

I.  More delays in granting licence to Euro Lotto TV.

    The new trans-European lottery channel Euro Lotto TV that will be based in the Estonian town [of] Paldiski under the management of a Swiss company has not yet received any licences from Estonian officials. The interactive satellite channel would allow people all over Europe to take part in lotteries by calling in. 
    Estonian Culture Ministry has refused to give a licence to the Swiss Marco del Curto Wohnbau AG company because it has not submitted its application in Estonian. Culture Ministry deputy chancellor said that the application that was presented in English was not acceptable due to the language law. Incorrect documents were also submitted to the Estonian wavelength inspectorate (Elekterside Inspektsioon) that is responsible for selecting a frequency to the channel. A representative of the inspectorate said that it would take at least six months to find a proper wavelength and the estimates of the new channel to start operation at the beginning of next year were too optimistic. 
    The international channel might just start airing its programs without the permit of the inspectorate, but the latter has promised to kick up an international fuss should that happen. Euro Lotto also lacks a licence from the Finance Ministry, which is necessary for holding any lotteries. Another problem is posed by the distribution of lottery revenues. In case of state lotteries, the revenues are divided between participant countries. But in case of Euro Lotto, the revenues would be left to the owners alone. 
    The Estonian state-owned Eesti Loto has said that giving a licence to Euro Lotto would be a contradiction of European lottery policies. International lottery organizations like AILE and Interloto have banned projects like Euro Lotto. The European gambling watchdog GREF has also decided against issuing licences to international lottery organizers in the member countries of GREF. An inquiry of Estonian Finance Ministry should receive an answer from GREF within the next weeks. 

Estonian news agency ETA, September 9, 1997

KYRGYZSTAN

I.  Central Asian conference in Kyrgystan to discuss Kazakhstan.

    The Association of Independent Electronic Media of Central Asia have agreed to hold again a special conference in [the Kyrgyz capital] Bishkek from 7th to 9th September [1997] with representatives from Internews, USIA, UNESCO, the [Kyrgyz] National Democratic Institute of International Relations, the American Association of Lawyers, international foundations and donor organizations in Kyrgyzstan. 
    The conference participants will consider laws which are in force and draft projects which are being planned dealing with the electronic media directly and the condition of the media in Central Asia, including the critical situation of the electronic media in Kazakhstan because of the anti-constitutional tender which was held by the government of this state [Kazakhstan]. 
    It is expected that a proposal for the future development of the electronic media will be drawn up, that documents and a code of practice for television and radio journalists will be prepared and that an appeal to the Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev because of the above tender and to the Kazakh parliament will be adopted at the conference. 

Kyrgyz Radio first program, Bishkek, August 14, 1997

UKRAINE

I.  President returns TV-radio laws to parliament.

    The Ukrainian president [Leonid Kuchma] has returned the laws of Ukraine “On the Ukrainian public television and radio broadcasting system” and “On amending the law of Ukraine on television and radio broadcasting” to parliament for further examination, the UNIAN news agency learnt at the president’s press office. 
    In his observations and proposals regarding these documents, Leonid Kuchma referred to the necessity of “maintaining the pluralistic nature of broadcasting” and to the Ukrainian constitution, noting that the Supreme Council has been using the said laws in the pre-election period in order to create “a television organization entirely subordinate to and controlled by itself,” at the expense of the state budget, “as well as exceeding its constitutional powers.” 
    The Ukrainian president has proposed that the laws be amended by making public television and radio broadcasting the object of state ownership and correspondingly giving the Ukrainian cabinet of ministers, as the only body designated in the Ukrainian constitution to manage objects under state ownership, powers to set up public television and radio broadcasting and approve a charter, as well as other powers to manage state property. 

UNIAN news agency, August 16, 1997

II.  New law on media coverage of authorities.

    The Ukrainian Supreme Council has adopted the final version of the Ukrainian law “On the procedure for mass media coverage of the activities of state executive authorities and local self-government bodies in Ukraine.”
    A UNIAN news agency correspondent reports that the law regulates the procedure for covering the activities of the Ukrainian Supreme Council, the president, the cabinet of ministers, other central and local executive authorities, courts of general jurisdiction and the Ukrainian Constitutional Court. 
    The law gives the mass media the right to cover all activities of the state executive and local authorities and obliges the authorities to provide the media with full information about their activities, unless they are classified as state secrets. TV and radio stations licensed by the National TV and Radio Broadcasting Council are obliged to devote no less than 5% of their monthly airtime to daily coverage of parliamentary activities. In terms of the new law, presidential messages and activities “are liable for compulsory coverage.” 

UNIAN news agency report, July 18, 1997