Month: June 2005

JadranSport.org, Serbia and Montenegro
June 4 2005
U21 FYR Macedonia fails to hook on the leading three with a goalless
draw in Armenia
04.06.2005
by Ivan Stojanoviæ
Macedonian youngsters will come back from Armenia disappointed as they
missed a chance of the match when their captain Darko Tasevski missed a
penalty by shooting directly towards the Armenian goalkeeper Edel Bete.
Throughout the match Armenians hade more of a terrain initiative and
the Macedonians attempted to breach their defensive line through
counter-attacks from which in several occasions Baze Ilijoski and
Darko Tasevski failed to produce their chances into goals.
Ilijoski also had hit the post, but the ball simply didn’t want to
pass over the goal line, and it was obvious that it doesn’t when
Nikola Gligorov and Aleksandar Stojanovski were also denied from
signing their names in the score sheet.
Therefore the result remained 0:0 and this match will be remembered
by 1,000 spectators which came to a stadium despite the heavy rain
fall that made this match to be a quite uninteresting event.
With this draw Macedonia is fourth in the Group 1 with 8 points three
less than second and third placed Czech Republic and Netherlands and
four from leader Romania. Armenia is on fifth place with 5 points
while Finlad has 3 points and is at the bottom but they also have 2
games less as well as Czech Republic.
Line ups
Armenia U21: Aleksanjan, Stepanjan, Simonjan, Safarjan, Osejan
(Hovnanisjan) Vardazrjan, Movsisjan, Babajan(Tetovosjan), Melkonjan,
Lombe.
FYR Macedonia U21: Tofiloski, Markoski, Osmani,Gligorov, Ivanovski,
Tanevski, Manevski, Masev, Ilijoski, Tasevski
–Boundary_(ID_cl4ZYSPYvIWz/Zgl1jbVvg)–

MOSNEWS, Russia
June 4 2005
Support Picket Overrun by Intolerance Mongers and Photo-Op Seekers
Anastasiya Lebedev
MosNews
At the picket in support of Alexandra Ivannikova, people held signs
saying that Alexandra did the right thing, that courts are corrupted,
and that people have a right to self-defense. At a support meeting,
that was to be expected. Also there were party banners, party armbands,
and nationalist speeches. Unfortunately, in contemporary Russia,
that was also to be expected.
On Thursday, June 2, a Moscow court convicted Ivannikova of voluntary
manslaughter (killing in the heat of passion) of Sergey Bagdasarian,
a gypsy cab driver who had tried to rape her in December 2003. She
was given a two-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay 206
thousand rubles (approx. $7360) to the family of the deceased.
Ivannikova’s lawyer’s efforts to have the woman’s actions re-classified
as self-defense failed. The court session was closed by plaintiffs’
(the family of the deceased) request. On June 3, a picket in the
center of Moscow was held to protest the sentence.
The picket, as most recent pickets and rallies, became a political
soiree of sorts. All the regulars of Russian street politics dropped
in to say a word, hold a sign, wave a flag, or get some attention
by pointing out how their particular movement or party would fight
for the prevention of such cases. Ultra-nationalist LDPR Youth,
nationalist Rodina youth, pro-regime Eurasian Youth Movement all flew
their standards, while their liberal counterparts from Yabloko youth
chose not to display party affiliation, but were there as a team and
a statement anyway.
Other movements who’d been following Ivannikova’s case included DPNI
(Movement Against Illegal Immigrants) and groups arguing for the
right to bear arms. DPNI, which likes to blame ethnic non-Russians
for all that goes wrong in the motherland, has been hot and heavy on
the case because Bagdasarian was an ethnic Armenian.
The majority of the picketers looked rather lost – they were quite good
at posing for press and amateur photographers abundant at the event,
but other than chanting discordantly and half-heartedly “Fair trial
for an honest person” and “Acquit Ivannikova,” they weren’t quite
sure what to do. When asked how they learned about Ivannikova’s case,
most responded that they had learned about it online. Ivannikova’s
lawyer, who blogged about the case throughout the trial, was the one
to initially attract attention to the case. Because the trial was
closed – no press or public admitted – his story is what Ivannikova’s
supporters go on. They believe that the court was either pressured
or paid off by Bagdasarian’s family. The picket livened up when
ultra-nationalists got up to speak.
Radical nationalists have been making ethnicity a central issue
in the case. Alexander Belov from DPNI barked on and on about the
right of all women to carry knives, about Russian women being raped,
and Russia being “our” country. Aleksey, another DPNI member in the
picketing crowd, first stated that the movement would have exactly
the same position had the young woman been threatened by an ethnic
Russian, then added: “The national aspect is important. You-know-how
come here and rape.”
Their speeches definitely appealed to the few seniors who had come
after hearing an announcement on Narodnoye, or People’s Radio, as
they had explained. An elderly couple who introduced themselves as
Pyotr and Adelaida said they’d come to the “protest the stranglehold
of the foreign-born. Yes, the stranglehold of the foreign-born. And to
support Ivannikova, but most importantly, to protest the stranglehold
of the foreign-born.”
Looking at the party reps wrapped in banners, Nikolay, a picketer
who’s in a youth political movement but who came privately, said,
“I believe that this is publicity that exploits someone’s misfortune.”
Natalya Kholmogorova, one of the picket’s organizers, disagreed: “This
is a necessary evil. Political activists will publicize themselves
by the means of this case, but if they manage to help Alexandra,
that’s good.” Andrei, another independent picketer who came to
express his stance on self-defense and punishment for rape (which he
believes should be death), said, shaking his head, as Belov ranted:
“I didn’t expect overt fascism.”
After Belov’s tirades, more moderate speakers stepped up, demanding
the acquittal of Ivannikova and even an award for her courageous
self-defense. However, the liberal party picketers left after the DPNI
address, unwilling to appear to be supporting the ultra-nationalist
position. A while later, the picket drifted apart as activists folded
up banners and took off armbands. What could have been made into a
poignant case for self-defense and women’s rights was little more than
a photo-op for Russia’s nationalists and a soap-box for intolerance.
In December 2003, after getting into Bagdasarian’s car for a ride
home, Ivannikova stabbed him in the leg with a kitchen knife which
she has carried with her since the age of 16, when she had been
first assaulted. She accidentally ruptured an artery, after which
Bagdasarian bled to death.

Soccer falls victim to tension in Turkish-Armenian relations
RIA Novosti, Russia
June 4 2005
BELGRADE, June 4 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Paskhin) – Turkish authorities
refused to grant an air corridor on Thursday night for a plane
carrying Macedonian national soccer team to Yerevan for a 2006 World
Cup qualifying match against Armenia scheduled for June 4.
The plane spent about an hour and a half in Turkish air space but
when it had less than a hundred kilometers left to reach the Armenian
border, the aircraft was suddenly ordered to return to Macedonia’s
capital Skopje.
Utrenski Vestnik, a Macedonian daily, wrote on Friday that, to justify
its actions, Ankara claimed that “the aircraft crew did not have the
documents required for flying over Turkey”.
Other Macedonian media assumed that the real cause of the incident
lied in strained Turkish-Armenian relations (Yerevan demands that
Ankara apologize for the large-scale massacre, branded by Yerevan
as genocide against the Armenian population of eastern territories
of the Ottoman Turkey in 1915-1917, when up to 1.5 million Armenians
were exterminated).
Currently, the Macedonian Soccer Federation is looking for alternative
routes (bypassing Turkey) to send its national team to Armenia.

Pandev double delights visitors
Saturday, 4 June 2005
Two goals in each half from Goran Pandev helped F.Y.R.
Macedonia to a narrow win away in Armenia in FIFA
World Cup qualifying Group 1.
Two Goran Pandev goals helped F.Y.R. Macedonia to victory
Pandev strikes
The S.S. Lazio striker put the visitors in front in the 29th minute,
nervelessly converting a penalty to break the deadlock. It was 2-0 a
minute into the second half, Pandev scoring his and F.Y.R. Macedonia’s
second to give his side a two-goal cushion.
Manucharyan effort
That did not last long, however, FC Pyunik forward Edgar Manucharyan –
who will join AFC Ajax on 1 July – striking again having scored four
times against Hungary on Tuesday as Armenia reached the 2004/05 UEFA
European Under-19 Championship, their first international finals. The
home team were unable to find an equaliser as F.Y.R Macedonia held on,
moving on to eight points despite remaining fifth. Armenia, meanwhile,
stayed sixth.

Bete heroics deny Macedonians
Saturday, 4 June 2005
By Khachik Chakhoyan
Edel Bete kept another clean sheet for Armenia
F.Y.R. Macedonia missed the chance to keep the pressure on the top
three in UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying Group 1 as
they were held in Armenia.
Penalty save
The home side dominated the match early on, but could not create any
clear-cut chances. F.Y.R. Macedonia, however, concentrated on rapid
counterattacks and threatened the Armenian goal on several occasions.
Captain Darko Tasevski missed their best chance as he struck a penalty
straight at 18-year-old Armenia goalkeeper Edel Bete, and Blaze
Ilijoski, Nikola Gligorov and Aleksandar Stojanovski all went close.
Bete impresses
But Bete, who had also kept a clean sheet last time out in a goalless
game against the Netherlands, held firm, and in the closing stages
denied Zlatko Tanevski, Danio Masev and Ilijoski, the latter also
hitting the post eight minute from time.
Midweek matches
Today’s visitors are now three points behind second place but can move
level with the Czech Republic should they win there on Tuesday. The
following day Armenia, in fifth, visit current leaders Romania.

OPPOSITION NOT HOMOGENEOUS
A1plus
| 14:25:14 | 04-06-2005 | Politics |
Though the coalition’s draft constitutional amendments was adopted in
the first reading it does not provide for three principal aspects,
these being the independence of the juridical system, elective post
of the Mayor of Yerevan and the division of power.
“The problem of power balance is the most difficult one, since in this
case the President will be deprived of his exceed authority. “Neither
the acting Constitution nor the drafts provide for this balance. As
result we see that the country has become authoritative”, leader of
the Liberal Progressive party Hovhannes Hovhannisyan says. “With
implementing new reforms the leadership will exert every effort
to strengthen this authoritarianism. The rights of the NA will be
reduced. The NA is not empowered to make serious decisions like the
formation of the government, appointment of the Prime Minister. As
a matter of fact we have no National Assembly, since featureless NA
has no significance in ruling the country”, he notes.
The LPPA members are adherents to the specifying of the parliament’s
position and providing it with wide-range authority. “The National
Assembly should take part in the formation of the government,
the members of the government should account to the NA and the
parliament should have the right to express opinion on appointment
of the Prime Minister. H. Hovhanissyan understands that in case the
NA authority is expanded it is essential to create a mechanism of
counteraction, otherwise the parliament can become another “headache”
for the society. “I think the President should not have the right to
dissolve the parliament. If we arm the President with this instrument
the parliament’s rights will not worth a penny”, he says.
Leader of the extra-parliamentary opposition is convinced that the
amendments will not improve either after the second or third reading.
Unfortunately to ate trying to cheat all – the Council of Europe,
the Venice Commission and our own people. “The authorities proved
that they cannot be trusted. They displayed no tolerance towards the
other draft amendments”, H. Hovhannisyan says.
“Earlier the Venice Commission just advised however now it appears as a
commander. The style has changed from consultations to demands. It is
inadmissible”, head of Ramkavar-Azatakan, another extra-parliamentary
party Harutyun Arakelyan says. He is an adherent to the presidential
government system. “However executive legislative and juridical
powers should control each other and their functions should be fixed
in the Constitution. In this case a political system will be formed”,
he stressed. The members of Ramkavar-Azatakan are displeased with the
current process of constitutional reforms. “The Constitution should be
elected by the people. However nobody explains to the people what laws
will be adopted and what sense these amended laws will have”, they say.
Lena Badeyan

Jerusalem orders Palestinian homes to be razed
Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Saturday June 4, 2005
The Guardian
Jerusalem’s city council has ordered one of the largest mass
demolitions in the city’s recent history, with plans to raze the
homes of about 1,000 Palestinians in a neighbourhood claimed by Jewish
settlers.The council says about 90 buildings served with demolition
orders were built illegally over the last three decades on a site of
religious and archaeological value just outside the Old City walls, and
that they are being destroyed to restore the area as a national park.
But Israeli human rights campaigners say the real intent is to forcibly
remove Palestinians from an area, Silwan, that is an important link
in the government’s plan to encircle Arab East Jerusalem with Jewish
settlements.
Meir Margalit, a former city councillor leading opposition to the
demolitions, said: “It will undermine a solution to the conflict,
because the government is trying to make it impossible for East
Jerusalem to be the Palestinian capital.”
The targeted houses make up the Al Bustan neighbourhood in Silwan,
in an area the city council calls King’s Valley because it was the
site of King David’s city.
The demolitions were ordered by the city engineer, Uri Shetrit,
in a letter last November but were kept under wraps until dozens of
demolition orders went out in recent weeks.
“This hill and its surrounding neighbourhood dates from 5,000 years
ago,” the letter says. “These remains have an international and
national value and they give the city its status as one of the most
valuable cities in the world.”
But the opposition leader on the council, Alalu Jose, said there was
almost nothing left of King David’s city: “I confronted Shetrit after
he sent out the letter ordering the demolitions and said, ‘This has
nothing to do with archaeology or parks, it’s all about politics.'”
A controversial settler organisation, Elad, partially funded by the
government, has already taken over more than 40 buildings in the area.
Mr Margalit said: “There is a much bigger plan here, aimed at ensuring
Israeli control of all of Jerusalem even after there is a Palestinian
state.”
He acknowledged that many of the affected houses were built illegally,
but says that was because of a council policy not to issue construction
permits to Palestinians. The mayor of Jerusalem, Uri Lupolianski,
has declined to comment publicly on the demolitions.
Among those served with a demolition order is Mo hammed Badran, who
says he was born in 1961 in the house the council now wants to raze.
Mr Badran has papers from the British mandate era in the 20s that
appear to show his grandfather owned the land where the house now
stands.
“I have been taxed on this house since the day they introduced it to
East Jerusalem in 1973,” he said. “If the house was illegal, why did
they take the tax?”

GOVERNMENT SHOULD BE FORMED BY NA
A1plus
| 13:14:56 | 04-06-2005 | Politics |
Just imagine a situation when we put the Constitution on vote and
it fails for the second time. It gives negative outlook”, RPA deputy
Samvel Nikoyan considers.
The coalition realizes that that one of the most important conditions
for the adoption of the Constitution in Armenia is the meeting the
requirements of all the political forces. If any political force calls
upon the nation to boycott or upset the referendum on constitutional
amendments the present amendments will have the same fate as the ones
in 2003.
“Let us leave Europe alone. There are problems from the point of view
of the development of the country and mutual control of the power
branches” Samvel Nikoyan says hinting that the criticism of the Venice
Commission was not a surprise for him. “Upon adopting the draft in
the first reading we all, including the chairman of the commission
on integration into European structures Tigram Torosyan realized that
these three important aspects still need elaboration. This work should
be done during the period between the first and second readings”,
he said.
“I am aware of Tigran Torosyan’s attitude and his readiness to work. He
realizes that the changes must be inserted otherwise we will have
problems both with Europe and our home policy”, Samvel Nikoyan noted.
Thus, the representative of the ruling coalition agrees that the draft
should be admissible for internal and external forces. S. Nikoyan
considers the clause according to which the NA should be dissolved by
the President in case of voting down the government composition twice
to be odd. “Suppose that fearing to be dissolved the NA approved the
government. Taking into consideration the dislike of the NA towards the
government the former can fail any government activity. It can also
initiate laws the government will be incapable to implement. Thus,
we are coming to the idea that the executive power should rely on the
majority of the NA. If does not happen the antagonism between these
two branches cannot be efficient. In my opinion the government should
be formed by the NA”, he resumed.
Lena Badeyan

PRINCIPLE OF POWER DIVISION NOT PRESERVED
A1plus
| 12:37:10 | 04-06-2005 | Politics |
May 11 the National Assembly in the first reading adopted as a basis
the draft of constitutional amendments submitted by the coalition. The
draft that does not solve the main problem of reformation- the
regulation of balance of power between the states bodies. The Venice
Commission adheres to the same opinion.
“Even in December 2004 the conclusion said that the draft does
not secure the principle of power balance, moreover the President
still preserves his dominating position in the political system”,
constitutional right specialist Vardan Poghosyan reminds. In his words,
both in the acting Constitution and the adopted draft the government
still bears a double responsibility before the National Assembly and
the President. “It means that the President can any moment dismiss
the Prime Minister, what means that the government activity directly
depends on the President’s will.
Vardan Poghosyan assures that in none of the countries with
semi-presidential government system the government bears double
responsibility. “Semi-presidential system supposes that the government
that enlists the support of the parliament is functioning until it
loses the NA’s trust. Besides the problem of dismissing the Premier
the draft adopted leaves the government formation in the President’s
hands. The only change is that the NA will be dissolved not after the
third but after the second time it does not approve the government’s
program” Vardan Poghosyan said.
In his words, these two clauses are enough to be convinced that
the draft violates the logics of the semi-presidential government
system. Thus we are dealing not with the semi-presidential but
the super-presidential system. “The government is obliged to take
decisions on the basis on normative acts by the President. Though
the President does not ratify decision of the government he has the
right to suspend any decision and appeal to the constitutional court
to check it with the Constitution. At that the matter concerns not
only the normative but also individual decisions by the government”,
V. Poghosyan noted.
According to the draft adopted though the President does not preside
over the government sittings he can exercise his right to do that.
The functions of the President remain almost unchanged . “There is
a gap in Article 49. It says that for performing his functions the
President is empowered to undertake any steps; thus the President
has boundless authority. Consequently, Article 49 should define
that the President of the republic can perform his functions within
his authority only”, V. Poghosyan stressed. According to him, the
draft does not solve the problem of expanding the authority of the
National Assembly. On one hand its authority on exercising control is
insignificant, on the other hand with the absence of precise majority
it can turn into an uncontrollable body that can cause governmental
crisis.
In its conclusion the Venice Commission with regret noted the reduction
of the number of questions included in the legislative authority
of the National Assembly (in 2001 draft -37, now – 18). The draft
adopted in the first reading provides for 10 exclusive legislative
authorities of the National Assembly.
Victoria Abrahamyan

TOROSIAN PROMISES TO BRING LAW ON ASSEMBLY IN CONFORMITY WITH EUROPE”S STANDARDS
Armenpress
YEREVAN, JUNE 3, ARMENPRESS: Addressing participants of a Round-Table
on “Freedom of Assembly: Legislation and Practice” co-organized by the
Council of Europe Venice Commission, OSCE/ODIHR, and the OSCE Office
in Yerevan today in Yerevan Congress Hotel deputy parliament speaker
Tigran Torosian said a package of changes to be incorporated into a
relevant Armenian law calls for cutting the number of restrictions for
freedom of assembly and would bring the Armenian law in conformity with
provision 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Torosian said
an attempt is being made to simplify the law and put some vague points
in a more clear language. He said cooperation with the Council of
Europe for Armenia’s fullest integration with Europe will continue. The
Secretary of the Venice Commission, Mr. Gianni Buquicchio, said
Armenian authorities have demonstrated their commitment to amending the
law following a Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly resolution
which called on the Armenian authorities to introduce amendments
to the law on demonstrations and public assemblies by March 2005,
in order to bring it into full conformity with Council of Europe
standards to ensure freedom of assembly in practice The one-day event
aimed at providing a forum for broader discussions and consultations
on freedom of assembly in Armenia.