Month: April 2007

OMBUDSMAN’S ANALYSIS NOT REFLECT ACTUAL ACTIVITY OF COURTS IN ARMENIA

Arka News Agency, Armenia
April 6 2007

YEREVAN, April 6. /ARKA/. The simple analysis of statistical
information, submitted by the Armenian Ombudsman, does not reflect the
actual activity of courts, the message of the Court of Cassation says
in connection with statements made yesterday at a press conference
of Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutunyan.

"It is necessary to always take into account that courts administer
justice by means of investigation in court, implying presence of at
least two interested parties and collision of opposite interests.

Under such conditions, a court decision that resolves a dispute in
favor of one of the parties naturally evokes discontent of another
party," the message says.

Unlike other public authorities, there is always a discontent and
dissatisfied party at courts, and as a rule, the voice of this party
only reaches the public.

"For this reason, a simple statistical analysis of statements of the
persons, discontent with courts, does not represent a value in terms
of the content.

According to the statement of the Court of Cassation, courts have
never been against effective cooperation with public authorities or
public association.

"However, this cooperation may concern spheres that are outside the
frames of justice functions, and courts are known not to have specific
functions in other spheres," the statement says.

"Courts are ready to cooperate and do cooperate with different public
and non-governmental authorities. However, the courts demand observance
of the principle of independence of the judicial authority. We
pointed out with satisfaction that the profound realization of this
principle is reflected in the annual report of the Ombudsman," the
statement says.

Armenian Ombudsman Armen Harutunyan reported yesterday, in 2006
Armenian citizens complained most about the country’s judicial system
from the viewpoint of human rights protection.

He reported that the Ombudsman office received the population’s
complaints about almost all public authorities of the country, the
judicial system being the first for the number of complaints.

FUGITIVE EX-MINISTER DENIED ELECTION REGISTRATION
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 6 2007

A Yerevan court on Friday upheld the refusal by election officials
to register Eduard Madatian, a fugitive former transport minister
charged with plotting to assassinate Armenia’s top leaders, as a
candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Madatian is believed to have fled the country in November 2004 to
avoid prosecution for allegedly masterminding a failed attempt on
the life of President Robert Kocharian and then Defense Minister
Serzh Sarkisian. His whereabouts have remained unknown since then,
with law-enforcement authorities saying only that he lives abroad.

A criminal investigation into the alleged assassination bid was
suspended in July 2005 due to their failure to track down and arrest
Madatian. Few details of the mysterious criminal case have been
made public.

Madatian, who ran the Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communications
from 1999-2002, reminded the government of his existence last month
when newspaper reports revealed his intention to run for parliament
from a single-mandate constituency in Yerevan’s southern Erebuni
district. The ex-minister, better known to local residents as Khuchuch
(Curly) Edo, wielded considerable economic and political influence
in the area before going into hiding.

The district election commission rejected the registration request
on the grounds that Madatian failed to submit a police statement
certifying that he has resided in Armenia for the past five years,
something which is required by law. The Erebuni court of first instance
upheld the decision, rejecting an appeal lodged on behalf of Madatian
by his brother Grigor and lawyer, Hovik Arsenian,.

Both men claimed that the ex-minister actually lives in Armenia and
is hiding from police because he fears for his life. "Eduard Madatian
did permanently reside in Armenia in 2005 and 2006," Arsenian told
the court.

Seeking to substantiate the claims, Grigor Madatian dialed an
undisclosed number on his mobile phone to call a man who identified
himself as his fugitive brother. The man told RFE/RL that he is
currently in Armenia and will turn himself in if he is registered as
a candidate.

Under Armenian law, parliamentary election candidates can be detained
and prosecuted only with the Central Election Commission’s permission.

A police representative, Taguhi Hovsepian, defended the Erebuni
police department’s refusal to certify Madatian’s eligibility for
the elections. "How can we certify his residency in Armenia?" she
told the court. "Maybe that person doesn’t physically exist anymore."

Hovsepian also said the police discovered in 2005 that Madatian
had obtained Russian citizenship in 1994 in violation of Armenia’s
constitution which did not allow dual nationality until recently.

ARMENIAN AVIATION CHIEF REJECTS WORLD BANK CRITICISM
By Shakeh Avoyan

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 6 2007

Armenia’s civil aviation authority rejected on Friday a recent World
Bank study which concluded that its protectionist policies not only
restrict air travel but also impede overall economic development.

The study, officially presented late last month, listed civil
aviation among lucrative sectors of the Armenian economy that have
been effectively monopolized by businessmen close to the government.

It said the government is keeping prices of air transport artificially
high in order to benefit the Armavia national airline.

Artyom Movsesian, head of the government’s Civil Aviation Department,
admitted that Armavia is enjoying privileged treatment by the state,
but insisted that that is good for the country. "Why should our
aviation market be controlled by a foreign carrier?" he said. "It’s
better to give [control of the market] to our carriers because they
pay taxes here, while foreign companies don’t."

"This is also a matter of national security. We need to have a national
airline," he said, adding that foreign carriers rarely flew to Armenia
during it war with Azerbaijan and may well do the same in the event
of renewed fighting.

"We have rejected many points made by the World Bank," Movsesian told
a news conference. "We have had numerous meetings with World Bank
officials and presented our financial and economic justifications."

Armavia enjoys the state-guaranteed rights to fly to popular
destinations in the former Soviet Union and Europe, having inherited
most of them from Armenian Airlines, the now bankrupt state-run
carrier. The company, owned by a Russian-Armenian businessmen with
close government ties, has faced greater competition in recent years,
with several Western airlines currently carrying out regular flights
to Yerevan.

However, that has not led to a sizable reduction in air fares which
World Bank experts say remain well above the European per-mile
average. Their study blamed the high fares for the fact that the
volume of freight shipped by air to and from the landlocked country,
blockaded by two of its neighbors, fell by more than two thirds
between 1997 and 2003. It said making air travel and transport more
affordable will be increasingly essential for maintaining Armenia’s
high rates of economic growth.

SARKISIAN RULES OUT CABINET CHANGES BEFORE ELECTIONS
By Gayane Danielian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
April 6 2007

The newly appointed Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian indicated on Friday
that he will make no changes in Armenia’s interim government and will
let it operate until next month’s parliamentary elections.

"I don’t think there need to be serious changes in the composition
of the government as it will work for almost 40 more days, and our
key task is to ensure continuity in the government’s work," Sarkisian
said. "No changes are envisaged at the moment."

In accordance with the Armenian constitution, all members of the
current cabinet, including Sarkisian, tendered their resignation on
March 26, the day after the sudden death of Prime Minister Andranik
Markarian. President Robert Kocharian asked them to continue to
perform their duties until the formation of a new cabinet.

The constitution gives Sarkisian 20 days to select his ministers and
another 20 days to submit the new government’s program to the outgoing
National Assembly.

The 52-year-old premier, who has to step down immediately after the
May 12 elections, said the government will "send a program to the
National Assembly" but did not specify whether the legislature will
debate and vote on it before completing its four-year tenure. He is
widely expected to be re-appointed prime minister if his Republican
Party (HHK) wins the vote.

Making his first public appearance in the new capacity, Sarkisian
would not be drawn on he thinks should take up the vacant post of
defense minister which he has occupied for nearly seven years. "I
don’t want to make forecasts," he told journalists after attending
an annual meeting of members of Armenia’s National Academy of Sciences.

RUSSIAN PRIME MINISTER: SERZH SARGSYAN IS PROPONENT OF ARMENIAN-RUSSIAN RELATIONS’ FURTHER DEVELOPMENT

Regnum, Russia
April 6 2007

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov congratulated Serzh Sargsyan
on his appointment as Armenian Prime Minister.

As REGNUM is told at the Armenian government press office,
Mikhail Fradkov noted in his letter that the newly appointed Prime
Minister Serzh Sargsyan is a proponent of further development of the
Armenian-Russian relations. "We hope that your effective activity aimed
at development of the Russian-Armenian relations will be continued
on the post of the Armenian prime minister," the letter says.

On the case of appointing Serzh Sargsyan as prime minister, he
was congratulated by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, European
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. "The European Commission
expects continuation of the harmonic partnership with Armenia. It is
still a big challenge in the foreign policy to continue effort for
peaceful Nagorno Karabakh conflict settlement, and the Commission is
ready to assist Armenia and the OSCE MG in this issue," a letter from
Jose Manuel Barroso says.

MSU TO PRESENT TALKS ON STATUS OF MIDDLE EASTERN WOMEN

News-Leader.com, MO
April 6 2007

"Voices of Middle Eastern Women" will be presented at 6 p.m. April
17 at Missouri State University’s Plaster Student Union Theater.

Dr. Nawal El Saadawi and Torange Yeghiazarian will deliver keynote
addresses followed by a complimentary reception featuring various
Middle Eastern refreshments.

The event is part of MSU’s 2007 Public Affairs Conference.

El Saadawi, an Egyptian physician and author, has published more
than 30 novels and papers and has risked termination from jobs and
imprisonment for her work as a women’s rights activist.

She will share her experiences in a presentation called "The Condition
of Arab Women Today."

Yeghiazarian, an Iranian-born theatre artist of Armenian heritage,
is founder and artistic director of Golden Thread Productions. The
California-based performing arts organization presents theatre that
explores Middle Eastern culture and identity.

Yeghiazarian’s lecture, "The Middle Eastern Playwright: A Growing Voice
in Performing Arts," will be followed by a 10-minute performance of
one of her plays.

The presentation and reception are free and open to the public.

US WARNS CITIZENS AGAINST TRAVELING TO GARABAGH

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 4 2006

The US State Department has prohibited Americans from visiting the
Armenian-occupied Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh and sent a special warning
to US citizens of Armenian descent. US citizens must refrain from
visiting Upper Garabagh and the occupied territories surrounding it,
as their security there cannot be guaranteed, says a special statement
of the State Departments consular bureau. The statement indicated
further that although a ceasefire agreement was reached in 1994, small
pockets of hostilities are still in evidence on the frontline. Since
military action is still underway, there is no consular service for
Upper Garabagh which US citizens could use, it said. Touching on the
crime situation in Azerbaijan, the State Department said that while
the rate of grave crimes is relatively low, the muggings and attacks
on foreigners have become regular.

Those traveling to Baku have to be prepared for assaults in any part
of the city. It is also recommended that visitors do not walk alone
after the fall of darkness and report all incidents to the police or
the US embassy.

US ENVOY CITES CHANCES FOR PEACE ON GARABAGH

Assa-Irada, Azerbaijan
April 4 2006

The outgoing US ambassador to Azerbaijan Reno Harnish has said
his country will continue working hard to achieve settlement to
the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict over Upper (Nagorno) Garabagh. The
recent visits by the US co-chair of the mediating OSCE Minsk Group
Steven Mann and the US Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian
Affairs Daniel Fried to the region indicate that the United States
is interested in the conflict resolution, Harnish told reporters.

Harnish said 2006 will be a suitable time to resolve the long-standing
dispute in peace. The sides should maximally take advantage of this. I
believe a certain agreement will be reached in the ensuing stages of
the negotiations. The American envoy added that the responsibility
for the situation in the uncontrolled Armenia-occupied Azerbaijani
territories rests with official Yerevan.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

STETINA TO SUBMIT BILL ON RECOGNITION OF ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

Czech News Agency
April 4, 2006 Tuesday

Prague, April 4 (CTK) – Senator Jaromir Stenina (for the Green Party)
wants to submit a bill by which the Czech Republic would recognise
violence committed against Armenians in the Ottoman empire in 1915
as genocide, he told an international conference on the Armenian
genocide that was held in the Senate today. Turkey has refused to
recognise the extermination of Armenians as genocide and some Czech
and foreign politicians view this as a possible obstacle to Turkeys
admission to the European Union. Armenians consider April 1915 when
the government of the Ottoman empire arrested more than 2,300 Armenian
leaders as the beginning of the genocide in which up to 1.5 million
Armenians were killed in the following months and years.

Turkey denies that the Armenian genocide happened and links these
events with the fight against Armenians who, it says, collaborated
with the Russian army. It says that the accusation of the genocide
is supposed to delay its entry to the EU. According to Turkey, some
300,000 to 500,000 Armenians were killed during these events. "This
is the denial of the genocide by the whole nation. Europe should put
certain obstacles to Turkeys entry to the EU. Europe is based on the
principles that would be threatened if such Turkey joined the EU,"
chairwoman of the European-Armenian federation Hilda Tchoboian from
France said at the conference. "No government in Europe, except for
France, has recognised the genocide. The parliaments of some countries
are an exception," Vahakh Dadrian, an expert pn genocide who cooperates
with Harvard University in the USA, said. Armenian Deputy Foreign
Minister Arman Kirasosyan said that Armenia had not registered any
real changes in the position on the genocide as efforts to deny it
continued. "This prevents us from settling our relations with Turkey,"
he said. Stetina said it was important for Turkey that seeks to join
the EU to come to terms with its past. He said that the recent passage
of a similar law in Slovakia inspired his activities. Former Slovak
prime minister Jan Carnogursky told the conference about Slovakias
experience. By passing such a law, the Czech Republic would join
some two dozen countries that have passed such legislation, including
France, Russia, Italy, Switzerland, Canada and Slovakia. The European
Parliament recognised the killings of Armenians as genocide in 1987.

RUSSIA’S GAZPROM TO GAIN CONTROL OVER ARMENIAN GAS NETWORK

Agence France Presse — English
April 6, 2006 Thursday 9:21 PM GMT

Gazprom and Armenia said Thursday they had signed an agreement keeping
natural gas prices low but that will eventually give the Russian gas
giant control over the country’s distribution company, including a
future pipeline to Iran.

"Gazprom and the Armenian government have signed a 25-year agreement
that sets the principles for cooperation in energy projects in
Armenia," said a Gazprom statement.

Speaking in Yerevan, Armenian energy minister Armen Movsessian said
the country would receive under the agreement 248.8 million euros
from Gazprom, which would allow the government to subisdize gas prices
for consumers for three years.

Gazprom also promised to maintain until the end of 2008 its current
price for Armenia of 110 dollars per 1,000 cubic meters, less than
half what the company has been trying to charge other countries.

Under the agreement Gazprom is to eventually gain a majority stake in
the ArmRosgazprom gas distribution company, including a 40-kilometer
(25-mile) stretch of pipeline to Iran that will give Armenia a second
supplier of gas.

Armenia is currently completely dependent upon Gazprom for its
natural gas.

Gazprom currently owns 45 percent of ArmRosgazprom, the Armenian
government 45 percent and the Russian gas company Itera 10 percent.