Tuesday,
Tsarukian Critical Of Criminal Cases Against High Court Chief
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia -- Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian attends a parliament
session in Yerevan, .
Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of the main opposition Prosperous Armenia Party
(BHK), questioned on Tuesday criminal proceedings launched against Hrayr
Tovmasian, the Constitutional Court chairman increasingly at loggerheads with
the country’s leadership.
Tsarukian challenged law-enforcement authorities to present evidence of abuses
allegedly committed by Tovmasian. He condemned them for interrogating the
latter’s daughters.
“Let them present proof that he had committed some crimes,” Tsarukian told
reporters. “We all would support punishing him [in that case.] We are not in
favor of crimes.”
“But as an Armenian, as a family man, seeing a 16-year-old or 18-year-old girl
summoned for interrogation over some abuses is unacceptable to me,” he said.
“With their actions, they [investigators] are embarrassing the prime minister.
If these people want to show something, then they are not fit for their jobs.”
Tovmasian’s daughters as well as father were questioned by the National
Security Service (NSS). The NSS said it suspected that they had not submitted
accurate asset declarations to a state body. It said it is also investigating a
possible misuse of government funds allocated by the Armenian Justice Ministry
at a time when it was headed by Tovmasian.
Another law-enforcement body, the Special Investigative Committee (SIS), is
probing a possible “usurpation of power” by Tovmasian. Both inquiries were
announced two days after the Constitutional Court rejected the Armenian
parliament’s demands to replace its chairman installed by the country’s former
leadership.
The BHK refused to back a corresponding parliamentary resolution drafted by
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc. Tsarukian said on October 2 that
the bloc has come up with “very weak” arguments in support of its bid to oust
Tovmasian.
“Let them bring out evidence of [Tovmasian’s] illegitimacy and we will say he
is not legitimate,” the BHK leader said on Tuesday. He said that so far he has
seen only “empty talk.”
While criticizing the authorities, Tsarukian stopped short of explicitly
backing the former ruling HHK party’s claims that the criminal cases against
Tovmasian are politically motivated.
Pashinian dismissed those claims through a spokesman on Monday. The
parliamentary leader of his bloc, Lilit Makunts, likewise insisted that
Tovmasian is not subjected to “political persecution.”
“I hope that law-enforcement bodies are acting within the bounds of powers and
functions which they are supposed to have, and I hope that they engage [people]
in the investigations on the basis of legal facts and corroborations,” said
Makunts.
Armenian Parliament Attack Ringleader Asks For Parole
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia - A screenshot of TV footage of gunmen opening fire in the Armenian
parliament on 27 October, 1999.
The jailed man who led a deadly attack on the Armenian parliament in 1999 has
asked authorities to release him on parole, it emerged on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for Armenia’s Penitentiary Service said Nairi Hunanian, who is
serving a life sentence, is eligible for parole because of having spent 20
years in prison.
The official, Nona Navikian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Hunanian’s
application is already being considered by a relevant state body. It will
respond to him within an 80-day period, said Navikian.
An obscure former journalist, Hunanian led an armed group that burst into the
National Assembly and sprayed it with bullets on October 27, 1999. Then Prime
Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, parliament speaker Karen Demirchian and six other
officials were killed in the shooting spree that thrust Armenia’s government
into turmoil.
Hunanian, who will turn 54 in December, accused the government of corruption
and misrule and called for regime change as he held dozens of parliament
deputies and government officials hostage following the killings. He and the
four other gunmen, including his brother Karen and uncle Vram Galstian,
surrendered to police after overnight negotiations with then President Robert
Kocharian. Several other men were also arrested in the following days.
The gunmen were subsequently tried and sentenced to life in prison. Throughout
the marathon trial Hunanian insisted that he himself had decided to seize the
parliament and try to topple the government without anybody's orders. But many
in Armenia still believe that the ringleader and his accomplices had powerful
sponsors outside the parliament building.
Pashinian Under Fire Over ‘Secret’ Pay Rise
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian holds a cabinet meeting in Yerevan,
June 27, 2019.
Opposition leaders denounced Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Tuesday for what
appears to be a confidential decision to effectively double the salaries of
Armenian government ministers and their deputies.
Citing information provided by various ministries, the Hetq.am investigative
publication reported on Monday since June the ministers have been paid 1.5
million drams ($3,200) each per month, which is twice the amount of their
salaries set by an Armenian law. It said that deputy ministers have likewise
seen their monthly wages double to just over 1 million drams.
The online publication quoted an Armenian government spokesman as saying that
the sharp pay rises were “carried out under a secret procedure.” It said that
Pashinian issued the “secret directive” in July.
Pashinian’s press secretary, Vladimir Karapetian, did not deny the veracity of
the report when he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Tuesday. But he
declined to comment further.
The salaries of Armenia’s high-ranking state officials were most recently
officially raised in 2013 through amendments to the law in question. Pashinian,
then an opposition parliamentarian, strongly opposed the measure. “The ruling
elite has decided to raise its wages … against the background of poverty,
emigration and hopelessness,” he complained at the time.
The leaders of the two opposition parties represented in the Armenian
parliament seized upon the Hetq.am revelation to accuse Pashinian’s government
of lack of transparency. They also questioned the legality of the lavish pay
rise.
“I condemn it for the fact that it was done secretly,” said Prosperous Armenia
Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukian. “What did the people do the [2018]
revolution for? The people are ready for everything but they want to be
informed.”
“Public funds belonging to the people cannot be spent through secret procedures
unless we are talking about spending on defense and national security,” agreed
Edmon Marukian of the Bright Armenia Party (LHK).
Artur Sakunts, a prominent civic activist, also voiced concern at the
revelation. “This is incompatible with democratic and accountable governance,”
he said, adding that the government should apologize to the public and explain
the salary hike.
Meanwhile, parliamentary leaders of the ruling My Step bloc sought to deflect
questions about Pashinian’s controversial decision, saying that it is up to the
government to explain it. But they also stressed that paying the ministers and
other senior officials decent salaries will contribute to good governance in
Armenia.
“The wages of employees of state bodies must be raised because often times the
private sector offers better [financial] conditions to specialists needed by
the state … and the state loses in this competition,” said My Step’s Alen
Simonian.
Marukian acknowledged that higher salaries lower “corruption risks” in the
public sector. The opposition leader added, however, that the government should
either increase them by amending the law on high-ranking officials’ wages or
pay those officials bonuses in a transparent manner.
Pashinian’s government has paid hefty bonuses to tax officials as well as the
employees of other government agencies. Their disclosure by Armenian media
caused opposition uproar late last year. The head of the State Revenue
Committee, Davit Ananian, admitted in January that he alone received 14 million
drams ($29,000) in bonuses during his eight-month tenure.
Pashinian essentially defended those payments, arguing that they also benefited
ordinary public sector employees. He also complained that the government has
trouble attracting skilled professionals working for private firms and earning
higher wages.
Appointment Of Armenian Constitutional Court Head Declared Illegal
Armenia -- Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian reads out a court
verdict on an appeal filed by former President Robert Kocharian, September 4,
2019.
Law-enforcement authorities challenged on Tuesday the legality of Hrayr
Tovmasian’s appointment in March 2018 as chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional
Court after bringing coup charges against a former senior official.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS) said that the former Armenian
parliament elected Tovmasian court chairman as a result of a “usurpation of
power” by a “group of officials.” It claimed that they broke laws to install
him just before the entry into force in April 2018 of sweeping constitutional
amendments.
The amendments introduced a six-year term in office for the head of Armenia’s
highest court. Tovmasian was picked to run the court under the previous
constitution which allows him to hold the post until the age of 70. He was
elected shortly after the resignation of the court’s previous, long-serving
chairman, Gagik Harutiunian.
In a statement, the SIS claimed that the then deputy chief of the parliament
staff, Arsen Babayan, illegally backdated Harutiunian’s letter of resignation
in order to make sure that all legal deadlines for Tovmasian’s swift election
are met. It said that Babayan, who was arrested on Monday, has been charged
with forgery and seizure of power. The former official strongly denies the
accusations, according to his lawyers.
The statement also said that the SIS investigators suspect former parliament
speaker Ara Babloyan of involvement in the alleged coup. Babloyan was
interrogated by them earlier in the day.
The SIS stopped short of indicting Tovmasian, who has been under growing
government pressure to step down. It launched the coup probe on October 17 two
days after seven of the eight other members of the Constitutional Court
rejected the government-controlled parliament’s demands to replace their
chairman.
Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), with
which Tovmasian was affiliated until February 2018, says the investigation is
part of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s continuing efforts to force the high
court chairman to resign. Pashinian and his political allies deny any political
motives behind it.
Pashinian charged in July that Tovmasian “privatized” the Constitutional Court
with the help of the HHK. He implicitly demanded changes in the court’s
composition.
Tovmasian claimed on October 2 that the current authorities are seeking to oust
him in order to gain control over the court and be able to make
unconstitutional decisions. He said he will not bow to the pressure.
Press Review
“Government fans say that everything in Armenia has changed for the better,
grumblers are sure that nothing has changed, while the government’s opponents
say things have changed for the worse,” writes “Aravot.” “All three groups are
wrong. In Armenia two things have changed for the better: the government was
formed as a result of legitimate elections and it is not corrupt. These two
standards are so important that one can speak of a phenomenal achievement for
Armenia. What could have changed faster but has not changed is hypocrisy and
the ruling team’s obligation to justify everything.”
“Haykakan Zhamanak” dismisses claims about the “political persecution” of
former government officials and other critics of the current regime. The
pro-government paper says that law-enforcement authorities are simply trying to
solve crimes committed in the past. It deplores “terrible psychological
pressure exerted on the law-enforcement system” by Armenia’s former rulers.
“This is an overt attempt to paralyze and wreck the state law-enforcement
system,” it says.
“Zhamanak” comments on the recent sacking of Grigori Hayrapetov, who headed a
National Security Service (NSS) division in charge of the personal security of
the country’s top leaders and their family members. It followed the dismissal
of NSS Director Artur Vanetsian and police chief Valeri Osipian. The paper is
worried that these sackings could demoralize lower-ranking law-enforcement
officers and thus undermine the work of the state security apparatus. It says
they deepened a perceived lack of “predictability” within that system.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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