Thursday,
Armenian High Court Head Rejects ‘Political’ Pressure
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia -- Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian reads out a court
verdict on an appeal filed by former President Robert Kocharian, September 4,
2019.
The chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional Court, Hrayr Tovmasian, has denounced
the ruling My Step alliance’s efforts to unseat him as politically motivated
and accused the authorities of seeking potentially unrestricted powers.
“In my view, this process is political and pursues one goal: to neutralize the
Constitutional Court … as a hurdle, as an obstacle, as a body that could at
some point block political decisions because they contradict the constitution,”
he said in an interview with the ArmNews TV channel aired late on Wednesday.
Tovmasian repeated his claims in a written statement issued on Thursday. It
came as Armenia’s parliament began debating a draft resolution calling on
Constitutional Court judges to replace their chairman.
The resolution drafted by My Step and endorsed by senior government officials
decries, among other things, Tovmasian’s handling of appeals against the
legality of coup charges brought against the arrested former President Robert
Kocharian. It also says that Tovmasian cannot make impartial decisions on this
case because of his past membership in the former ruling Republican Party of
Armenia (HHK).
With My Step holding 88 seats in the 132-member National Assembly, the
resolution will almost certainly be passed. Tovmasian will lose his post if at
least six of the eight other Constitutional Court judges vote against him.
In his statement, Tovmasian said he will boycott the parliament debate on the
issue because he believes that the bid to oust him is driven by “political and
subjective” considerations. He listed recent events which he said highlight
ulterior motives behind it.
Those include the May 2019 blockade of all court buildings in Armenia initiated
by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and public statements by government loyalists
questioning the legitimacy of most members of the Constitutional Court.
Tovmasian also pointed to the recent arrests on corruption charges of two state
officials linked to him.
Armenia -- A session of the National Assembly, Yerevan, October 3, 2019.
Alen Simonian, a senior My Step figure and deputy parliament speaker, hit back
at the head of the country’s highest court. “It would be good if Mr. Tovmasian
was present here,” Simonian said on the parliament floor. “I assess very
negatively his latest statement and interview.”
“In his statement he once again proved what everyone is now saying: he remains
a representative of the Republican Party of Armenia,” charged the close
associate of Pashinian.
My Step’s initiative has been backed by the opposition Bright Armenia Party
(LHK). But the other, larger parliamentary opposition force, the Prosperous
Armenia (BHK), has refused to endorse it, saying that Pashinian’s bloc has
presented “very weak” arguments.
Gevorg Petrosian, a lawyer and senior BHK lawmaker, insisted on Thursday that
Tovmasian did not commit “major disciplinary violations” during the
Constitutional Court’s consideration of one of the appeals lodged by Kocharian.
On September 4 the court declared unconstitutional a legal provision used by
investigators against the former president. Pashinian called that ruling
“illegal,” citing dissenting opinions voiced by two court judges.
In a July interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian service, Pashinian accused Tovmasian
of cutting political deals with HHK leader and former President Serzh Sarkisian
to “privatize” the Constitutional Court in early 2018. Tovmasian responded by
warning the government against trying to force him and his colleagues to resign.
Armenia To Set Up Powerful Anti-Graft Body
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Ministers attend a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan, October 3,
2019.
The Armenian government formally decided on Thursday to set up a new
anti-corruption agency that will be empowered to prosecute state officials
suspected of bribery, fraud and other corrupt practices.
The Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) will be created in 2021 as part of an
anti-graft strategy and a three-year action plan adopted by the government at a
weekly meeting in Yerevan.
The ACC will inherit most of its law-enforcement powers from the existing
Special Investigative Service (SIS) tasked with combatting various crimes
committed by state officials. The strategy drawn up by the Armenian Justice
Ministry sets a three-year “transitional period” during which other
law-enforcement bodies will still be able to deal with corruption-related
offenses.
The government will also give more powers to the Commission on Preventing
Corruption formed under the former Armenian authorities. The commission has
until now been primarily charged with scrutinizing income and asset
declarations submitted by senior officials and investigating possible conflicts
of interest among them.
Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Justice Minister Rustam Badasian said Armenian
judges will now be a key focus of the commission’s activities. The state body
will be allowed to launch disciplinary proceedings against judges suspected of
having dubiously acquired assets, he said.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian confirmed that this “integrity verification”
will be a substitute for a mandatory “vetting” of all Armenian judges which he
demanded in May. “We realized that the word ‘vetting’ causes a great deal of
allergy and decided to change the tile but keep the essence [of judicial
reform,]” he said.
Pashinian and other Armenian officials discussed the reform with a high-level
delegation from the Council of Europe that visited Yerevan later in May.
According to an internal report subsequently released by the Strasbourg-based
organization’s Venice Commission, they agreed that “it would be neither
necessary nor useful to carry out a general vetting of all sitting judges.”
“Instead, disciplinary procedures should be strengthened and a link with the
asset declaration system established,” said the report.
Pashinian has repeatedly claimed to have eliminated “systemic corruption” in
Armenia since coming to power in May 2018. During his, law-enforcement
authorities have brought serious corruption charges against dozens of
individuals, including close relatives and cronies of former President Serzh
Sarkisian.
The prime minister ordered law-enforcement authorities on September 20 to step
up their anti-corruption efforts and, in particular, recover more public funds
embezzled or wasted by former officials.
Russian FM Critical Of Pashinian’s Karabakh Remark
• Aza Babayan
RUSSIA -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a session of the
annual Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, October 2, 2019
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has criticized Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian for describing Nagorno-Karabakh as an integral part of Armenia,
saying that such statements hamper efforts to end the Karabakh conflict.
Lavrov commented on the conflict when he spoke during an annual international
forum held in the southern Russian city of Sochi on Wednesday.
“As regards the situation on the ground, it is much calmer now than it was one
year ago,” he said. “But the political process is on hold and we have not yet
managed to kick-start it.”
“The parties are making quite serious statements,” he went on. “In particular,
there has been a statement to the effect that Karabakh is Armenia, just like
Albanian Prime Minister [Edi] Rama said from Tirana than Kosovo is Albania.
This certainly does not help to create an atmosphere conducive to the
resumption of the political [settlement] process.”
Lavrov added that the Russian, U.S. and French mediators co-chairing the OSCE
Minsk Group will continue press for the conflict’s resolution. “This is one of
the few situations where we have the same vision,” he said.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry dismissed the criticism on Thursday. “We find it
important that each of the mediators avoids selective or one-sided
evaluations,” said the ministry spokeswoman, Anna Naghdalian. She argued that
Pashinian reaffirmed Armenia’s readiness for a compromise peace deal with
Azerbaijan when he addressed the UN General Assembly in New York late last
month.
“Artsakh [Karabakh] is Armenia. Period,” Pashinian declared at a rally held in
Stepanakert on August 5. Azerbaijan condemned that statement as provocative.
RUSSIA -- Russian President Vladimir Putin shakes hands with Azerbaijani
President Ilham Aliyev during their meeting in Sochi, October 3, 2019
Lavrov spoke one day before Russian President Vladimir Putin met with his
Azerbaijani counterpart Ilham Aliyev on the sidelines of the Valdai Forum in
Sochi. Neither president mentioned the Karabakh conflict in his opening remarks
at the talks publicized by the Kremlin.
“For us, Russia is a very important partner, friend and good neighbor,” Aliyev
told Putin. “We very much value this relationship.”
Putin met with Pashinian on Tuesday on the sidelines of a Eurasian Economic
Union summit held in Yerevan. Few details of their conversations were made
public.
Senior Armenian Lawmaker Under Fire Over Insult
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the parliament committee on
defense and security, attends a parliament session in Yerevan, October 3, 2019.
A senior pro-government parliamentarian refused to apologize on Thursday for
his offensive comments about former Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian’s
parents which have caused a storm of condemnation from Armenian opposition
politicians and public figures.
Andranik Kocharian, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on
defense and security, made derogatory references to Hovannisian’s “mother and
unknown father” on Wednesday after she mentioned him while criticizing
government policies.
Speaking to 24News.am earlier this week, Hovannisian said the authorities
should scrutinize the assets of not only those former officials who served
during former President Serzh Sarkisian’s rule but also those who held senior
state positions in the 1990s. She named several such individuals, including
Kocharian, who served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister from 1991-1995 and
held a parliament seat from 1995-1999.
Kocharian’s reaction to those remarks drew strong condemnations on social media
from opposition leaders, other critics of the current government and even some
supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
“I believe that insulting, mocking a woman or making her personal life a
subject of public discussion because of her political activities is condemnable
and extremely unacceptable,” said Edmon Marukian, the leader of the opposition
Bright Armenia Party (LHK). “I apologize for this political culture.”
Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, added his voice to the
condemnations. “Targeting a personal or family is absolutely unacceptable
without any exception, especially if we are talking about a woman,” he wrote.
Significantly, the French ambassador to Armenia, Jonathan Lacote, shared
Tatoyan’s “welcome and necessary reaction” on his Facebook page.
Armenia - Justice Minister Arpine Hovannisian speaks to journalists during a
congress of the ruling Republican Party, November 26, 2016.
“Anything relating to the personal space, the private domain must have no place
in our political speech,” said Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of
Pashinian’s My Step bloc. “I also want to stress that I would be very happy if
such reaction [to Kocharian’s comments] from all sides was also displayed in
all [similar] cases.”
Makunts also said that she discussed the controversy with Kocharian. But she
did not specify whether she urged him to apologize to Hovannisian.
Such apologies were offered by Sasun Mikaelian, another prominent
parliamentarian representing the ruling bloc. “If Andranik Kocharian said such
a thing I apologize in his place,” Mikaelian told reporters.
Kocharian himself remained unrepentant, however. He doubled down on his mockery
of Hovannisian and her “unknown father” when approached by journalists.
“Unknown means not known to the society,” said the Pashinian ally. “Yesterday
the whole Facebook was looking [for Hovannisian’s] father and apparently found
him. The unknown is now known.”
Kocharian also hit out at Tevan Poghosian, a well-known pundit and former
parliamentarian who also apologized to the former minister. “I phoned Tevan and
said, ‘Tevan, what did you apologize for?’” he said.
Hovannisian, 35, served as justice minister from 2015-2017 before becoming a
deputy speaker of the former Armenian parliament elected in April 2017. She
announced in February this year that she is suspending her membership in the
former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) to start a law practice and run
a new think-tank. She remains a vocal critic of the country’s current
leadership which ousted HHK leader Serzh Sarkisian from power in April 2018.
Press Review
Հոկտեմբեր 03, 2019
“Yerevan’s tough position on the Karabakh issue has created serious problems
for Russia and Azerbaijan,” claims Lragir.am. “With negotiations frozen, the
Russian plan can only be realized in a military way, which is also
controversial and could blow up not only Azerbaijan but also Russia.” The
publication speculates that this is what Presidents Vladimir Putin of Russia
and Ilham Aliyev of Azerbaijan will probably be discussing in Sochi on
Thursday. It says Putin will also brief Aliyev on the Eurasian Economic Union
(EEU) summit in Yerevan.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says Putin proved wrong Pashinian detractors who had
claimed that he will not attend the summit or avoid a bilateral meeting with
the Armenian prime minister. The pro-government paper also slams them for
playing up the significance of Putin’s meeting in Yerevan with former President
Robert Kocharian’s wife Bella. It says that Armenians who did well during
Kocharian’s rule now hope that thanks to Russia the former president will not
only be freed from jail but also return to power.
“Zhoghovurd” reports on the Prosperous Armenia (BHK) Party’s decision not to
back government efforts to oust the chairman of the Constitutional Court, Hrayr
Tovmasian. “There have been many meetings between Pashinian and [BHK leader
Gagik] Tsarukian of late,” writes the paper. “It looks like they have not
managed to reach a common denominator on this issue. And so the real fight
between the BHK and [Pashinian’s] My Step got underway yesterday.” It recalls
that one year ago the BHK already joined the former ruling Republican Party of
Armenia in challenging Pashinian in the parliament. That development
precipitated the holding of snap parliamentary elections in December.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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