Monday, August 10, 2020
Armenian PM Congratulates Belarus’s Lukashenka On Reelection
August 10, 2020
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) meeting with Belarus President
Alyaksandr Lukashenka in Yerevan, September 30, 2019
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian sent a congratulatory message to Belarus
President Alyaksandr Lukashenka on his re-election in a ballot the results of
which are disputed by his opposition challenger.
“I am confident that through joint efforts we will continue to strengthen the
friendship between our peoples, to expand mutually beneficial cooperation
between our countries both bilaterally and within the framework of international
organizations and integration associations. On my part I am ready to make every
effort to fully realize the potential of relations between our peoples and
countries,” Pashinian said in his message as quoted by his press office.
Armenian President Armen Sarkissian also congratulated Lukashenka, wishing him
“good health, success and all the best” and “the friendly people of Belarus –
peace, stability and prosperity.”
Belarus’s Central Election Commission said preliminary official results from the
August 9 presidential election show incumbent President Lukashenka winning a
landslide victory with more than 80 percent of the vote, compared to less than
10 percent for his main rival, Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya.
Tsikhanouskaya, who drew tens of thousands of people to her campaign rallies,
refused to recognize the preliminary official results announced on Monday.
Protesters poured into the streets of Belarus's capital, Minsk, after the
balloting ended, many of them facing off against riot police.
The ballot in Belarus was followed by a night of violent clashes between police
and thousands of protesters who say exit polls and official results from the
election commission were rigged.
A human rights group in Minsk said that one protester was killed in the clashes,
but Belarus’s Interior Ministry denied that.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on August 10 condemned the
violence in Belarus, calling on the Belarusian government to “accurately” count
and publish the poll’s results.
Armenia is a member of the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union and Collective
Security Treaty Organization both of which also include Belarus.
Other leaders of the alliances, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Kazakhstan’s President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev, have also sent congratulatory
telegrams to Lukashenka on his re-election.
Belarus’s autocratic leader who turns 66 later this month has occupied the
presidential post since 1994.
Authorities See Continuing ‘Positive Trend’ In Coronavirus Situation In Armenia
August 10, 2020
• Robert Zargarian
A medical worker takes notes at the Surb Grigor Lusarovich Medical Center in
Yerevan, Armenia's largest hospital treating coronavirus patients, June 5, 2020.
The number of active coronavirus cases in Armenia continued to decrease over the
weekend as the fatality rate remained relatively high, according to official
statistics.
The figures reported by the Ministry of Health show that for the first time
since early June the number of active coronavirus cases in Armenia has dropped
below 7,000. Eleven more patients died from COVID-19 over the weekend, bringing
the total number of deaths to 796.
According to the ministry, since the start of the epidemic in March 228 other
patients infected with the virus died from other pre-existing diseases.
The daily number of officially registered fatalities averaged approximately 15
from July 6 through July 24 after which a downward trend began.
As of August 10, the total number of coronavirus cases identified in Armenia has
reached 40,433. In the past weeks and days the number of daily reported cases
decreased more than twice as compared to what appears to be the peak of the
epidemic in early July when over 700 cases were identified on a daily basis.
Ministry spokesperson Alina Nikoghosian sees a continuing positive trend in the
rate of infections. “The numbers themselves show a significant decrease. But,
like we did it before, we keep repeating that vigilance must not be weakened,
because if we relax, the numbers will start growing again,” she said.
The Armenian government ascribes the recent improvement in the coronavirus
situation to the wearing of face masks in all public places that was made
mandatory in Armenia in early June and other enforced and popularized measures
like social distancing and regular washing of hands.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other officials have urged Armenians to
continue to follow the basic anti-epidemic rules, insisting that they can help
cope with the epidemic.
Despite the improving trend the Pashinian government intends to extend the
coronavirus-related state of emergency that ends on August 12 for another month.
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian said last week that the government will at
the same time fully or partly lift its ban on public gatherings and make it
easier for foreign nationals to enter the country. He also reaffirmed plans to
reopen all schools and universities in time for the start of the new academic
year in September.
Health Minister Arsen Torosian, meanwhile, said at a government session on
August 6 that his ministry planned more targeted and “pro-active” testing among
people working in government agencies, supermarkets, factories, banks or other
businesses as well as patients of various medical and elderly care institutions.
Critics have for months urged authorities to significantly expand COVID-19
testing, saying that it is vital for tackling the epidemic.
‘Serious Probe’ Demanded After Ex-Police Chief Obstructs Work Of RFE/RL Reporters
August 10, 2020
Former Chief of Police Vladimir Gasparian (file photo)
Several leading media organizations in Armenia have demanded that the country’s
law-enforcement agencies conduct a “serious probe” into an incident in which
former Chief of Police Vladimir Gasparian obstructed the professional activities
of an RFE/RL Armenian Service (Azatutyun) crew working on an environmental story
near Lake Sevan over the weekend.
In a joint statement disseminated on Monday the Committee To Protect Freedom of
Expression, the Yerevan Press Club, the Asparez journalists’ club and seven
other organizations stressed that the former senior official, who is notorious
for his violent conduct, “must be held accountable in accordance with the law.”
“During his time in office as chief of police Vladimir Gasparian stood out
through his arrogant attitude towards media representatives and in some cases
through his cruelty,” the statement said, referring to several such incidents in
the past, notably the 2015 and 2016 protests in Yerevan, “when more than 40
journalists and cameramen were targeted by police and were subjected to physical
violence and illegal persecution.”
The statement also made a mention of another incident in which the then chief of
police grossly insulted a local website’s reporter which then drew anger from
the journalistic community.
“All this went unpunished, and, apparently, that is the reason why today the
former chief of police continues to show indecent behavior towards journalists,”
the organizations stressed.
Gasparian, who served as chief of Armenia’s police for seven years before being
dismissed after the regime change in May 2018, drove his vehicle in the
direction of RFE/RL reporters, almost running over them, after seeing that they
were filming in the lakeside area where his house is presumably located.
Gasparian threatened the reporters, using phrases like “I’ll shoot you” and
“I’ll kill you,” and, using offensive language, he also demanded that the
reporters not show his house in their report.
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service reported the incident to police.
“We are horrified at this attack on our Armenian Service reporters, by no less
than a former chief of police,” RFE/RL’s acting President Daisy Sindelar said on
August 9.
“The reporters were covering a story of significant public interest when Mr.
Gasparian nearly struck them with his vehicle, threatened to kill them, and
forced them to erase their footage,” Sindelar said.
“We demand that police investigate the incident, and that Mr. Gasparian be held
accountable for endangering journalists who were simply doing their jobs.”
The RFE/RL reporters were working on a follow-up story after Armenia’s newly
appointed environment minister said last week that authorities planned
dismantling illegally constructed facilities and houses located near Lake Sevan.
According to media reports, a number of houses belonging to several former
high-ranking officials, including Gasparian, are affected by the decision.
On Sunday, in connection with the incident, the Armenian police formally opened
a criminal case under Article 164.3 of Armenia’s Criminal Code (“Obstruction to
the legal professional activities of a journalist accompanied with threats to
the life or health of a journalist or his/her relative”), which is punishable by
between 3 and 7 years in prison. Investigation is currently underway.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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