Month: December 2008

THEY DEMAND JUDGE’S RESIGNATION

A1+
[04:57 pm] 19 December, 2008

"Let’s honour the victims of March 1 with a minute of silence," Judge
Mnatsakan Martirosyan said at the beginning of today’s trail of the
case against seven opposition activists. Though the judge’s offer
was unanimously accepted, indignant shouts were heard throughout the
courtroom, "You killed them in order to honour later!’

The opposition leaders tried to calm them down.

At the beginning of the trial Judge Martirosyan presented the sides
their rights and the indictment. Shortly afterwards Stepan Voskanyan,
the advocate of Abovian’s former Mayor Grigor Voskerchyan, petitioned
the judge to tender a rejection. Voskanyan grounded his petition for
the3 fact that "Martirosyan has announced numerous indictments on
March 1 and suspended pre-trial restraints."

Shant Harutyunyan was very active at today’s trial. He filed a
petition to hear his case separately as he had fought against the
Russian Federation. He noted that on March 1 desperate people had
begged asylum from the Russian Embassy. Meanwhile, a man was shot
dead in front of the embassy. According to Shant Harutyunyan the
shot might have been fired by the embassy employees. Therefore, Shant
Harutyunyan urged to invite the embassy representatives to the trial.

Shant Harutyunyan and Mnatsakan Martirosyan soon started a heated
argument. Ex Foreign Minister Alexandre Arzumanyan called the judge
to order and said, "If you say in the name of Armenia, do not forget
that we were the founders of the Republic of Armenia!" He reminded that
as a foreign minister he had signed a number of agreements, and Judge
Mnatsakan Martirosyan is bound to commit them and dismiss the case.

Prosecutor Koryun Piloyan found the petition ungrounded. The court
has retired to consider the petition.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

‘DO NOT AFFECT NAIVETE’

A1+
[07:33 pm] 19 December, 2008

Ex Foreign Minister, prisoner at the bar Alexander Arzumanyan made
a constructive suggestion to Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan during
today. "Instead of hearing the cases and petitions separately you had
better compile all petitions and go to the retiring room and consult
with the President whether you should file a resignation or not. You
are supposed to act as you are told. We are not going to wait for
ages for each decision. We still have a lot to do," said Arzumanyan.

The ex FM stated during today’s trial of seven oppositionists that
he had illegally been kept in custody for 10 months. "Each time
Piloyans /he meant the prosecutor/ read out half of Article 193,
leave out the second half and turn down petitions affecting naïveté."

Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan demanded that Arzumanyan display respect
towards the prosecutors. This made Arzumanyan furious: "When Piloyans
speak you never interrupt them. Do not interrupt me, please."

Advocate Amalya Arustamyan stated that some important information on
"the mother case," particularly the decisions of the Prosecutor General
were missing. Prosecutor Koryun Piloyan refuted the information and
added that not all decisions and decrees of the Prosecutor General
can be attached to the case.

Alexander Arzumanyan assessed Piloyan’s statement as a "confession of
crime" and said, "He admits that there are some confidential documents
and you, Judge Martirosyan, do not react to this statement. It turns
out that you have the right to publicise my telephone conversations
with my wife, but you don’t react to a most serious statement anyway."

Arzumanyan’s patience finally gave way after Koryun Piloyan cited a
precedent from the European Court.

He cites precedents from European conventions and speaks of European
Courts. And who is speaking of European standards? A man who has been
recommended by the PACE Monitoring Committee to stop prosecution
against the political prisoners. If you adhere to European values
that much, do follow their recommendations and release the political
prisoners," said Arzumanyan.

Judge Martirosyan retired to the jury-room to consider the second
petition for his withdrawal. He promised to publicise his decision
later in the day.

–Boundary_(ID_fi29EBe+9Wc/q/8tHo1uLg)–

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

DEFENDERS CHALLENGE JUDGE

Panorama.am
16:19 19/12/2008

Today at 12:00 in the community court of Shengavit the defenders
of seven arrested challenged the judge Mnacakan Martirosyan. In
particular, Stepan Voskanyan, the defender of the former mayor
of Abovyan Grigor Voskerchyan announced that the defender’s side
has justified suspicion over the fairness and objectivity of the
judge. According to him, the judge has "unsubstantiated rejected
the mediation of the defending side, in particular, to investigate
additional witnesses and additional material". The other defenders
have also agreed to challenge the judge.

The injured party has also joined the defenders, especially the head
of "Heritage" fraction Armen Martirosyan, who announced that PACE
Monitoring Commission has announced the trial unjustified.

The accuser’s party announced that the defenders’ proposal should be
rejected, as their argumentations are unsubstantiated.

TURKISH MILITARY OPPOSES ARMENIAN APOLOGY CAMPAIGN

International Herald Tribune
Dec 19 2008
France

ANKARA, Turkey: Turkey’s military says it opposes a campaign by
Turkish intellectuals who issued an online apology for the World War
I-era massacres of Armenians in Turkey.

Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Metin Gurak said Friday the campaign
could "bring about harmful results."

He did not elaborate. But there are fears it may harm diplomatic
efforts toward improving ties with Armenia and lead to compensation
claims.

Turkey’s prime minister says the apology is not binding and he is
against it. Nearly 14,000 people have signed the apology.

Historians estimate up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed in an
event widely viewed by genocide scholars as the first genocide of the
20th century. Turkey denies the deaths were genocide, saying those
killed were victims of civil war.

TURKISH GENERAL STAFF CONDEMNS ARMENIAN APOLOGY CAMPAIGN

Azeri Press Agency
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Ankara – APA. Turkish General Staff took a stance on the internet
campaign launched for apologizing to Armenians.

APA reports quoting Turkish news agencies that the army regarded
the campaign as an act that may harm the country. Official of the
General Staff, General Metin Gurak said at the traditional weekly
meeting with media representatives that it was wrong to apologize.

"We do not consider this campaign right," he said.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

TURKISH AIRLINES DENIES REPORTS OF DIRECT YEREVAN FLIGHTS

Hurriyet
Dec 19 2008
Turkey

Turkish Airlines (THY) has denied reports claiming that the company
would launch direct flights to the Armenian capital Yeravan, in a
statement issued on Friday. (UPDATED)

"As Turkish Airlines, who continues on its path inline with its growth
targets, has made no decisions regarding this issue, the subject
was not even been brought to the agenda of the Executive Board,"
the statement said.

Some media reports suggested Turkey had planned to schedule direct
flights from Istanbul to Armenia’s capital Yerevan in order to boost
the recent process of renewed relations between the two countries.

Turkey and Armenia have no diplomatic ties and their border has been
closed for more than a decade, as Armenia presses the international
community to admit the so-called "genocide" claims instead of accepting
Turkey’s call to investigate the allegations, and Armenia’s invasion
of 20 percent territory of Azerbaijan.

A warmer period began the two countries began after Turkish President
Abdullah Gul paid a landmark visit to Yerevan in September on the
occasion of a Turkish-Armenian World Cup football qualifying match.

ARMENIAN OPPOSITION FIGURES ON TRIAL OVER "COUP ATTEMPT"

Dec 19 2008
Turkey

A former Armenian foreign minister and six other opposition figures
went on trial in Yerevan on Friday on charges of seeking to overthrow
the government during protests in March.

Ten people died when protests against the results of presidential
elections in the former Soviet republic turned violent.

The opposition says the trial of former foreign minister Alexander
Arzumanyan and his co-accused is politically motivated, and complain
the government has done little to investigate allegations of police
culpability.

Rights groups and the Council of Europe voiced concern after the
government imposed a state of emergency and arrested over 100 people
after the protests. The opposition said the vote, won by Serzh
Sarksyan, was rigged.

Arzumanyan, a foreign minister in the late 1990s, was campaign chief
for opposition presidential challenger Levon Ter-Petrosyan. Arzumanyan
was detained in March and charged with "usurpation of state power"
and organising the unrest.

"The case is sufficiently proven by the evidence of 500 witnesses,
civilians as well as police officers," chief investigator Vahagn
Harutyunyan told Reuters.

"We have records of telephone conversations, private video
recordings and television footage, and public speeches by opposition
representatives."

Ter-Petrosyan has not been officially charged with any connection to
the unrest.

Arzumanyan’s lawyer said the case was "false".

"No one among those charged did anything to violate public order,"
Hovik Arsenyan told Reuters.

More than 100 opposition supporters gathered outside the court on
Friday as the trial got under Way, chanting "We are with you" and
"We’ll free you".

Of 140 people charged over the violence, 101 have been convicted,
of which 52 received jail sentences.

ARMENIA, RUSSIA SHOULD ANNOUNCE THEIR PREPAREDNESS FOR REAL SETTLEMENT OF NAGORNO-KARABAKH CONFLICT, SAYS AMERICAN EXPERT

Trend
Dec 19 2008
Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, Baku, Dec. 19/ Trend News, R. Novruzov/ Armenia and
Russia should announce their preparedness for talks with Azerbaijan to
really settle the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, said S.Frederick Starr,
American expert on the South Caucasus and Central Asia and head of
Central Asia – Caucasus Institute.

"The fact that Russia originally acted as initiator of the conflict and
later became mediator in the resolution of the conflict is, at least,
strange," Starr said to Trend News in Baku on Dec 19.

The conflict between the two countries of the South Caucasus began
in 1988 due to Armenian territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Since
1992, Armenian Armed Forces have occupied 20% of Azerbaijan including
the Nagorno-Karabakh region and its seven surrounding districts. In
1994, Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement at which
time the active hostilities ended. The Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk
Group (Russia, France, and the US) are currently holding peaceful
negotiations.

American political expert described activities of the OSCE Minsk Group
as failure because of differences between two co-chair countries –
Russia and the United States.

The expert described activeness of conflicting sides in talks
especially with the active participation of Russia and precisely
Moscow Declaration by leaders of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia as
Russia’s strive to "wipe nose of U.S."

Presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia Ilham Aliyev, Serzh
Sarkisyan and Dmitry Medvedev signed a declaration at the end of their
meeting in Main Dorf castle near Moscow on November 2. Presidents
of Russia, Armenia and Azerbaijan decided to make joint efforts to
normalize the situation in the Caucasus.

OPERATOR OF LAKE BLUFF HOME CHURCH FACES MORE LEGAL PROBLEMS
By Susan Kuczka

Chicago Tribune
hi-lake-bluff-church-19-dec19,0,211749.story
Dec 19 2008
IL

A Lake Bluff man who gained notoriety when he got an $80,000
property-tax break on his North Shore mansion when he converted it
into a church faces more legal woes as he fights to keep his tax
exemption on the books, court records show.

NorStates Bank of Waukegan recently filed more than a dozen foreclosure
lawsuits against George Michael, a Chicago banker and real estate
company owner who won the property-tax break on his home in June. He
told state officials that he set up an Armenian church in his $4
million residence after his online ordination through the Church of
Spiritual Humanism.

Michael also recently appeared in federal court to defend himself in
a Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. lawsuit that claims mismanagement
at the Chicago bank he operates with his brother, Robert, a retired
Chicago police officer. Testimony in the case recently wrapped up
in U.S. District Court in Chicago. A ruling is expected next spring,
an FDIC spokeswoman said.

Meanwhile, Lake Bluff’s village attorney, Peter Friedman, said the
village’s bid to overturn an Illinois Revenue Department decision to
award George Michael the property-tax break on his lakefront home is
moving forward.

Michael and his wife, Susan, gave depositions this month about the
activities at their residence, where the family says the Armenian
Church of Lake Bluff holds Sunday religious services for themselves
and close friends. Michael previously said he opened the church so his
physically disabled wife would not have to travel to observe her faith.

Friedman said he believes that the Michaels’ recent statements may have
damaged their own cause. George Michael admitted in the deposition
that his church "is not functioning in any kind of organized way,
its finances are very informal, bylaws are not complied with, and
there’s no minutes, or anything like that," Friedman said.

"I think this informality will help a lot because they have to meet
their burden that this is a real, live operating church, and all that
lack of structure, I think, will be hard for the administrative law
judge to ignore," Friedman said.

Michael’s attorney, Mark Belongia, disagreed.

"We’re comfortable with our position," he said, declining to make
additional comment.

It was after Michael obtained an online pastor’s degree that he asked
the Revenue Department to grant him an exemption from paying his tax
bill. The Revenue Department granted the exemption in June after Lake
Bluff and Lake County officials rejected it, saying the home served
primarily as a residence–not a church.

If the village loses its appeal with the Revenue Department, Michael
could still have to pay more than $100,000 for violating the village’s
zoning ordinances. Village officials maintain that Michael needs a
special permit to hold religious services in his home. A lawsuit to
decide whether Michael will have to pay the fine is pending in Lake
County Circuit Court.

The FDIC took Michael to court in connection with the operation
of Citizens Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago. The FDIC suit said the
Michael brothers misused the bank’s assets in personal real estate
transactions.

CONGRESSMAN MARK KIRK ANNOUNCED CO-CHAIR OF CONGRESSIONAL CAUCUS ON ARMENIAN ISSUES

Noyan Tapan

Dec 19, 2008

WASHINGTON, DECEMBER 19, ARMENIANS TODAY – NOYAN TAPAN. The Armenian
Assembly of America welcomed the election of Mark Kirk (R-IL) as a
new co-chair of the Congressional Caucus on Armenian Issues. In this
post M. Kirk will replace the co-chair Joe Knollenberg who will leave
Congress in January 2009.

In the words of M. Kirk, after working with the Armenian American
community on promotion of U.S.-Armenia issues for 20 years, it was a
great honor and inspiration to him to serve together with Congressman
Pallone as a co-chair of the Caucus on Armenian Issues. He said that
the Caucus on Armenian Issues is famous for its work on development
of U.S.-Armenia relations and recognition of the Armenian Genocide,
and he anticipates to work with Congressman Pallone and all the members
of the Caucus to promote U.S.-Armenia relations in the 111th Congress.

M. Kirk was first elected to Congress in 2000, replacing John Porter
(R-IL) who was the first co-chair of the Caucus from the Republican
Party.

M. Kirk serves in the U.S. House of Representatives’s Appropriations
Committee and is included in the Committee’s Subcommittee on Financial
Services and the Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and
Related Programs, under whose jurisdiction is the issue of financing
of Armenia.

Congressman Kirk has sponsored many resolutions on the Armenian
Genocide.

Besides, he assisted with adoption of resolutions on the use of
a normal constant trade regime between the U.S. and Armenia and
co-sponsored resolution 3361 of the House of Representatives, which
banned the allocation of taxpayers’ money for financing construction
of a railway bypassing Armenia.