Thursday,
Gunman Held After Opening Fire In Yerevan Office Building
• Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Police officers guard the entrance to the Erebuni Plaza Business
Center after a gunman opened fire there, Yerevan, .
A gunman surrendered to the Armenian police after reportedly bursting into an
office building in Yerevan and opening fire there on Thursday.
Police officers rushed to the Erebuni Plaza Business Center and cordoned it off
shortly after the gunfire. “The situation is under control,” a police spokesman
told reporters outside the building.
In an ensuing written statement, the national police service said that its
acting chief, Arman Sargsian, personally negotiated with the gunman and that the
latter handed his weapon and surrendered as a result. The unidentified man was
then taken to a police station in Sargsian’s car, according to the statement,
“No citizens were injured,” added the statement. “All circumstances of the
incident are being clarified.”
The police said nothing about the man’s demands or motives.
Armenia -- Armed policemen rush to Erebuni Plaza Business Center where a gunman
opened fire, Yerevan, .
Erebuni Plaza houses the offices of the United Nations, several private
companies as well as the jailed former President Robert Kocharian and two media
outlets sympathetic to him. Their employees were not allowed to leave the
building during the two-hour standoff.
A journalist working for the Yerevan.Today news website said she saw an armed
man and heard gunshots on the ground floor and immediately fled the scene. She
said she and her colleagues were told leave the building after the standoff.
The head of Kocharian’s office, Victor Soghomonian, told reporters that it was
empty during the incident. He said he does not know whether the gunfire had
anything to do with the ex-president, who is standing trial on coup charges
strongly denied by him.
“I have no information now,” said Soghomonian.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian was quick to react to the incident. “Any
manifestation of violence, whatever the motive or justification, is
unacceptable,” Pashinian wrote on Facebook. “No to violence! Armenia without
violence.”
Armenia Advances In Global Corruption Rankings
• Artak Khulian
Germany -- Microphone cables dangle over a logo of Transparency International
(TI) during a press conference in Berlin, 23Sep2008
Armenia’s has considerably improved its position in an annual survey of
corruption perceptions around the world conducted by Transparency International.
It ranked, together with Bahrain and the Solomon Islands, 77th out of 180
countries and territories evaluated in the Berlin-based watchdog’s 2019
Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released on Thursday.
Armenia and seven other countries shared 105th place in the previous CPI
released a year ago. Transparency International assigned the South Caucasus
state a CPI “score” of 35 out of 100 at the time. The watchdog raised the score
to 42 in the latest survey.
Armenia continues to trail neighboring Georgia but is ahead of its three other
neighbors, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey, in the global rankings. Georgia occupies
44th place in the 2019 CPI.
“Following the revolution in 2018 and the formation of a new parliament,
[Armenia] has demonstrated promising developments in advancing anticorruption
policy reforms,” Transparency International said in the report.
But it also cautioned: “Despite these improvements, conflicts of interests and
nontransparent and unaccountable public operations remain impediments to ending
corruption in the country. While improving political integrity will take time
and resources, increasing public trust in law enforcement and the judiciary are
critical first steps in ensuring appropriate checks and balances and improving
anti-corruption efforts.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian cited the findings out the latest Transparency
International report during a cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “We have progressed by
28 points,” he said.
Pashinian has repeatedly claimed to have eliminated “systemic corruption” in
Armenia since he swept to power in the 2018 “Velvet Revolution.”
The number or corruption investigations launched by Armenian law-enforcement
authorities has risen significantly since the dramatic change of government. The
most high-profile of these cases have involved former top government officials
and individuals linked to them.
Dutch FM Praises ‘Excellent’ Ties With Armenia
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian (R) begins talks with his Dutch
counterpart Stef Blok, Yerevan, .
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok on Thursday described as “excellent” his
country’s relationship with Armenia and confirmed its plans to open an embassy
in Yerevan soon.
Blok also spoke of “excellent prospects” for deepening bilateral ties further
during what was the first-ever visit to Armenia by the Netherlands’ top diplomat.
“With this visit I would like to underline the excellent bilateral relations
between Armenia and the Netherlands,” he said after holding talks with Armenian
Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanian.
Speaking at a joint news conference, Blok said they discussed the “excellent
prospects for Armenia and the Netherlands to continue to work together in the
future.”
“Economic cooperation is one of the main opportunities lying ahead of us,” he
said, singling out the information technology and agriculture sectors.
The Netherlands is already one of Armenia’s leading trading partners in the
European Union. According to Armenian government data, trade between the two
countries rose by over 6 percent to $178 million in January-November 2019.
Mnatsakanian hailed a 23 percent surge in the number of Dutch tourists visiting
Armenia recorded last year. Blok likewise noted that “the Dutch immensely like
to travel and also more and more to Armenia.”
The Dutch minister met with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian later in the day.
Pashinian was quoted by his office as telling him that the Armenian government
remains committed to its “ambitious” reform agenda. Blok said, for his part,
that the Dutch government is ready to assist in its implementation, according to
the office.
At the news conference with Blok, Mnatsakanian announced that Pashinian is due
to visit the Netherlands later this year. He said the visit and the upcoming
opening of the Dutch Embassy in Yerevan show that bilateral ties have “received
new impetus after the democratic changes that occurred in Armenia.”
Disclosure Of Armenian Editor’s Phone Records Declared Illegal
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia -- Knar Manukian, editor-in-chief of "Zhoghovurd" daily, speaks to
RFE/RL, March 18, 2019.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals on Thursday declared illegal a lower court’s decision
to give a law-enforcement agency access to the recordings of phone calls of a
newspaper editor facing criminal proceedings.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS) launched the proceedings against the
editor, Knar Manukian, shortly after her “Zhoghovurd” daily published a year ago
leaked testimonies by ex-President Serzh Sarkisian and other former officials
interrogated over the 2008 post-election unrest in Yerevan. The SIS has
repeatedly questioned her in connection with that it sees as illegal
revelations, prompting accusations of harassment from the independent
publication.
After Manukian refused to disclose the source of the leak, the SIS asked a
district court judge in Yerevan to allow it to obtain her cellphone records. The
judge granted the request.
Manukian says she learned about that decision and appealed against it after an
SIS investigator informed her that he has the transcripts of her phone
conversations with two other persons. She says the official asked her to reveal
“which of these two individuals shared the March 1 [case] testimonies with you.”
The Court of Appeals backed the editor’s claim that the lower court
authorization of the disclosure of her phone calls was illegal.
The chairman of the Yerevan Press Club, Boris Navasardian, welcomed the ruling,
saying that the SIS actions are “definitely a cause for concern.” Navasardian
said the law-enforcement body investigating the 2008 unrest is unjustly trying
to shift responsibility for the leak to “Zhoghovurd” and its editor.
Manukian said she complained to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian about the
criminal proceedings launched against her during a New Year’s reception hosted
by him for Armenian journalists. In her words, Pashinian, himself a former
newspaper editor, assured her that there will be no violations of press freedom
or the due process.
The “Zhoghovurd” editor on Thursday held SIS chief Sasun Khachatrian and
Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian personally responsible for the attempts to
force her to disclose her sources “in such a mean fashion.”
Manukian was most recently interrogated by the SIS in December. A few days later
unknown intruders broke into the empty offices of “Zhoghovurd” and caused havoc
there. They did not steal anything, according to the newspaper staff.
Taguhi Tovmasian, the paper’s founder who is currently a parliament deputy
representing Pashinian’s My Step alliance, suggested that the intruders “looked
for information.” Tovmasian described the overnight break-in as a serious threat
to press freedom in Armenia. Nobody has been detained in connection with it so
far.
Press Review
“Zhamanak” reports that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Wednesday dismissed
opposition criticism of his response to the mysterious death of former National
Security Service Director Georgi Kutoyan. The paper says that the onus is now on
law-enforcement authorities to find answers to all questions raised by Kutoyan’s
death. This is a “matter of state security,” it says.
“People are like children,” writes “Aravot.” “If you teach them that they
receive more care, compassion and consolation in case of complaining, moaning or
voicing discontent then they will be prone to falling into depression so that
they are loved and caressed. Their oppressor is certainly the government and the
consoler the opposition. If the latter manages to woo and take pity on the
people its success will be guaranteed.”
“Zhoghovurd” reports that Pashinian will hold a news conference in the
southeastern Armenian town of Kapan this weekend. The paper criticizes the
government for not providing free transportation and accommodation for
Yerevan-based journalists planning to cover the news conference. “This means
that very few journalists will take part in that news conference because for
mass media operating in Armenia it is not easy to get to Kapan, rent a hotel
there, take part in the news conference and return at their own expense,” it
claims.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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