Friday,
European Court Reports Further Drop In Appeals From Armenia
FRANCE -- The building of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg,
November 15, 2018
The number of appeals filed by Armenians in the European Court of Human Rights
(ECHR) continued to fall rapidly last year, the Strasbourg-based tribunal said
on Thursday.
“For Armenia, the number of new applications allocated to a judicial formation
was 167, more than a two-fold decrease as compared to 356 in 2017,” the ECHR
said in an annual report presented by its president, Guido Raimondi, at a news
conference.
The ECHR recorded 753 lawsuits from Armenia in 2016.
Armenia fell under the European court’s jurisdiction when it joined the Council
of Europe in 2001. Its government lost the first case in Strasbourg in 2007.
The ECHR has ruled against various Armenian government, judicial and
law-enforcement bodies on 94 occasions since then, costing them more than $1.2
million in damages. “The highest number of violations related to the right to a
fair trial, and right to liberty and security,” says its report.
The ECHR handed down 15 rulings against the Armenian state in 2018, up from 11
such judgments in 2017.
“By January 1, 2019, there were 1,901 cases pending for Armenia, a small
increase as compared to 1,819 in 2017. Armenia has remained in the top-ten
states by the number of pending applications,” says the report.
The large number of lawsuits reflects a lack of judicial independence and
corruption among law-enforcement officers and judges in Armenia.
The current Armenian authorities have repeatedly pledged to address the problem
since they came to power in a democratic revolution in May. Their critics
claim, however, that just like their predecessors, they pressure courts to side
with prosecutors in high-profile criminal cases. Government officials -- and
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in particular -- strongly deny this.
Pashinian Praises Eurasian Union
RUSSIA -- Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian gives a speech at the
headquarters of the Eurasian Economic Commission in Moscow, .
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian praised the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) and
reaffirmed Armenia’s continued membership in the Russian-led trade bloc as he
visited its headquarters in Moscow on Friday.
Pashinian met with the Armenian head of the EEU’s executive body, Tigran
Sarkisian, and its key members three weeks after his country assumed the EEU’s
rotating presidency.
“In the past years the Eurasian Economic Union has proved its viability,” he
said at the meeting. “A positive dynamic has been registered in the main
economic indicators and important decisions have been made regarding many
directions of Eurasian integration.”
In a separate appeal to the leaders of Russia and the EEU’s three other member
states read out at the meeting, Pashinian said: “Armenia will make every effort
to maintain the positive dynamic of integration and to accomplish tasks that
could give an additional impetus to economic growth in our countries.”
In particular, Pashinian went on, the Armenian government will strive for a
harmonization of their economic regulations which he said are currently
hampering greater trade among the member states. He also voiced support for the
EEU’s free-trade deals planned or already signed with other nations, including
China and India.
According to Armenian government data, in January-November 2018 Russia and
other ex-Soviet states making up the bloc accounted for 27 percent of Armenia’s
foreign trade, compared with the European Union’s 25 percent share in the total.
RUSSIA -- Participants pose for a photo during a Eurasian Economic Union summit
in Sochi, May 14, 2018
Pashinian criticized Armenia’s accession to the EEU and even called for its
withdrawal from the bloc as recently as in November 2017. However, immediately
after he swept to power in May 2018 he made clear that he will not pull his
country out of the EEU or the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty
Organization (CSTO).
Pashinian was asked about his past position on the issue at a news conference
held at the EEU headquarters. “You know that when I was a member of the [former
Armenian] parliament I voted against that decision [to join the EEU,]” he
replied. “Since then I have repeatedly said that just because we had thought
that it’s a wrong decision doesn’t mean we need to take diametrically opposite
actions in order to correct that mistake.”
“U.S. President Barack Obama thought that President [George W.] Bush was wrong
to invade Iraq and so he decided to … withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq. And what
did we get? We got the Islamic State,” he said.
“The fact is that Armenia is a member of the EEU and I don’t think that U-turns
are good in international affairs. And as you can see, our efforts now are
aimed at making the EEU more effective,” added Pashinian.
In that regard, the Armenian premier made a case for setting up a common EEU
market for natural gas and other fuel. He was understood to imply that Russian
gas should be as cheap in Russia as it is in Armenia and other EEU members
importing it.
Russia’s Gazprom giant raised its wholesale gas price for Armenia on January 1.
Pashinian’s government is now negotiating with Armenia’s Gazprom-owned gas
distribution network in hopes of keeping its internal retail tariffs unchanged.
Pashinian expressed confidence on Friday that the existing gas prices set for
Armenian households and corporate consumers will not go up this year. He again
insisted that his government will not be subsidizing it.
The gas issue was high on the agenda of Pashinian’s most recent meeting with
Russian President Vladimir Putin held in Moscow on December 27. The two men
held further discussions on it by phone in the following days.
Pashinian was not scheduled to meet with Putin during his latest trip to the
Russian capital. He was due to hold talks instead with Russian Prime Minister
Dmitry Medvedev later in the day.
Indicted Tycoon Allowed To Leave Armenia
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia - Businessman Samvel Mayrapetian at the official opening of his Toyota
car dealership in Yerevan, 23 June 2009.
An Armenian law-enforcement agency has allowed a prominent businessman
prosecuted on corruption charges to receive medical treatment in Germany one
week after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled in his favor.
The businessman, Samvel Mayrapetian, was arrested in October on charges of
“assisting” in payment of a bribe worth more than $4 million. Mayrapetian, who
denies the accusation, was freed on bail on health grounds late last month. He
is reportedly suffering from a serious form of pancreatitis.
Immediately after his release, Mayrapetian asked the Special Investigative
Service (SIS) for permission to leave for Germany. The SIS rejected the
request, leading the tycoon to appeal to the ECHR.
The Strasbourg-based court ruled on January 17 that the Armenian authorities
must allow Mayrapetian to undergo adequate treatment recommended by his
doctors. According to his lawyer Karen Batikian, the SIS gave such permission
late on Thursday.
An SIS spokeswoman, Marina Ohanjanian, said on Friday the decision was
recommended by a team of doctors chosen by the Armenian Ministry of Health. She
said they confirmed that the suspect needs the kind of surgery which is not
performed in Armenian hospitals.
Ohanjanian also told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Mayrapetian was allowed to
leave the country after two prominent individuals guaranteed in writing that he
will come back after he recuperates from the life-threatening disease. Each of
them posted bail worth 15 million drams ($31,000), said the official.
In Batikian’s words, those individuals are Ruben Fanarjian, a senior professor
at the Armenian State Medical University, and Rev. Vahram Melikian, the chief
spokesman for the Armenian Apostolic Church. The lawyer insisted that his
client will return to Armenia once his treatment in a German clinic is complete.
Investigators have still not publicized details of the accusations leveled
against the tycoon who had greatly benefited from close ties with Armenia’s
former governments.
Mayrapetian, 59, one of the country’s leading real estate developers who also
owns a national TV channel and a car dealership. Some media outlets for years
linked former President Robert Kocharian’s elder son Sedrak to the Toyota
dealership.
Kocharian is currently held in pretrial detention, having been charged in
connection with the deadly breakup of post-election opposition protests in
March 2008. He denies the accusations as politically motivated.
EU, World Bank Pledge More Funds For Armenian Road Upgrades
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Workers renovate a tunnel on a highway in the Lori province,
14Jul2018
The European Union and the World Bank have allocated over 730 million euros
($832 million) for investments in Armenia’s transport infrastructure that will
be made by 2030, a senior EU official confirmed on Friday.
The loans and grants are part of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T)
Investment Action Plan announced by them last week. It is designed to “boost
connectivity and economic growth” in six former Soviet republics included in
the EU’s Eastern Partnership program.
“Together, the projects will require an estimated investment of almost €13
billion and foresee a total of 4,800 kilometers of road and rail, 6 ports, and
11 logistics centers,” the World Bank and the EU said in a joint statement.
“Those projects will make possible the construction and rehabilitation of new
and existing roads, rail, ports, airports as well as logistical centers and
border crossing points,” they said.
Armenia will be eligible for 732 million euros worth of such funding, added the
statement.
“This huge program of connectivity will bring Armenia and the European Union
closer together,” Piotr Switalski, the head of the EU Delegation in Yerevan,
told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
“Some of the projects are already being implemented in Armenia,” he said.
Armenia -- Piotr Switalski, head of the EU Delegation to Armenia gives an
interview to RFE/RL, Yerevan, 25Jan2019
Switalski pointed to the ongoing reconstruction of two Armenian highways
running from Yerevan to the Georgian border. The EU has contributed over 90
million euros in loans and 15 million euros in grants to the effort, he said.
The diplomat also mentioned the 54 million-euro modernization of Armenia’s
three border checkpoints with Georgia which was carried out from 2013-2017.The
EU provided the bulk of the sum in the form of a grant and a loan.
According to the joint statement by the World Bank and the EU, road projects
launched in Armenia as part of TEN-T are worth more than 200 million euros.
The bank and the 28-nation bloc have allocated much greater sums for similar
projects in Georgia and Azerbaijan: 3.4 billion euros and 2.8 billion euros
respectively.
“What we have as a result, this initial outline, is the reflection of the
expectations of the Armenian side,” Switalski said when asked to explain the
difference.
Press Review
Lragir.am reports that the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun)
mentioned the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in a declaration adopted at its
congress held in Stepanakert. The publication says that the wording of the
reference is vague and it is not clear whether the party now supports or
continues to oppose the so-called Madrid Principles of a Karabakh settlement
which were first drawn up by the U.S., Russian and French mediators in 2007.
But as “Zhoghovurd” says, “One can presume that with this statement
Dashnaktsutyun spoke out against any compromise in the Karabakh conflict. That
is to say that it is against any resolution of the Karabakh conflict.” The
paper says that Dashnaktsutyun’s position is disingenuous because the party
never warned former President Serzh Sarkisian against making major concessions
to Azerbaijan when it was part of his government. It argues that both Sarkisian
and his predecessor Robert Kocharian considered making territorial concessions
to Baku. “But now Dashnaktsutyun is creating some myths about the Karabakh
settlement, trying to juxtapose them against the reality and fighting against
its on myths,” it concludes.
“Zhamanak” comments on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s phone conversation with
U.S. National Security Adviser, John Bolton. “The fact that Bolton make a phone
call to Davos the day after [Pashinian’s] meeting with [Ilham] Aliyev suggests
that there is a certain connection between the call and the Pashinian-Aliyev
meeting,” writes the paper. “But that does not necessarily mean that there was
an agreement. It may have just been a question-and-answer session. Washington
may have tried to find out what happened in Davos … But that raises the
question of what regional developments, not mentioned by Bolton but cited by
Pashinian, were discussed [during the phone conversation.] The question of Iran
comes to the fore here.” The paper notes that the Iranian ambassador in Yerevan
met with parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan earlier this week.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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