Iranian Embassy Announces “Freedom of Silence” Project to Armenian NGOs

"Every citizen should be empowered to exercise his/her constitutional right to shut up"

 YEREVAN – A controversial project was unveiled by the Iranian Embassy in Armenia on Tuesday, November 23d, offering grant opportunities to civil society organizations for proposals on silencing alternative media. The project will be implemented through local partners – Slavonic University of Yerevan and “Just Asia – Mentorship Foundation”. 

The project was launched at the Embassy, where the Cognizant Theocracy Officer of the Autocracy and Due Governance Portfolio, Mahmud Mushtek, outlined the goals of the project. “The Armenian government faces serious challenges today with the emergence of new media like blogs, Youtube, and facebook, which are making it increasingly difficult to enforce the need to shut up the active youth, general citizens and human rights activists”.