Following on from the previous post detailing concerns about access to the media in the run-up to the 2008 presidential election in Armenia, RFE/RL reports that one regional TV station has already found itself in hot water after broadcasting last month’s speech attacking the government by the first president, Levon Ter Petrosian.

The Gyumri-based Gala TV’s Executive Director apparently aired the speech after being paid to do so by Ter Petrosian’s backers and despite warnings not to do so by the National Commission on Television and Radio (NCTR).

[…] Vahan Khachatrian claimed that officers of the Gyumri branch of the National Security Service visited him shortly afterward and warned Gala to stop covering Ter-Petrosian’s return to active politics.

Khachatrian said he will ignore the alleged warning. “I’m not afraid of anything or anyone,” he said, adding that tax officials in Gyumri are now investigating the legality of his ownership of real and other property.

Khachatrian also struck a defiant in a separate written statement issued later in the day. “I want to emphasize that the Gala TV company’s position will not change and that I, as the company’s owner, will not tolerate any attempt at interference by any structure or individual,” he said.

The claims came just three days after Armenia’s leading media associations expressed serious concern at reports that the government has ordered TV channels in Yerevan and elsewhere in Yerevan to shun events featuring Ter-Petrosian and, in particular, a rally which he plans to hold on Friday.

The full post is available on the 2008 Presidential Election Monitor Blog.