Wednesday, March 3, 2021
Armenian Army Chief Still In Limbo
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - President Armen Sarkissian and General Onik Gasparian at an official
awards ceremony in Yerevan, July 5, 2019.
The Armenian military said on Wednesday that its top general will continue
performing his duties for now despite Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s efforts
to have him fired.
Pashinian petitioned President Armen Sarkissian last week to sign a decree
relieving General Onik Gasparian of his duties shortly after the chief of the
military’s General Staff and 40 other high-ranking officers accused the Armenian
government of misrule and demanded its resignation.
Sarkissian refused to sign such a decree on Saturday, saying that it appears to
be unconstitutional and would deepen the “unprecedented” political crisis in the
country. Pashinian criticized the refusal as “unfounded” and resent his motion
to Sarkissian in another attempt to get him to fire Gasparian.
Sarkissian on Tuesday appeared to have paved the way for Gasparian’s removal,
again refusing to sign the proposed decree but making it clear that he will not
ask the Constitutional Court to invalidate it.
Under Armenian law, the president can keep blocking or at least delaying the
general’s sacking only by appealing to the court.
Sarkissian’s second decision prompted serious concern from leaders of the
Homeland Salvation Movement, an opposition alliance seeking Pashinian’s
resignation. They met with him on Wednesday morning.
The head of state also held another separate meeting with Gasparian. In a
statement issued shortly afterwards, the General Staff offered its
interpretation of complex legal requirements and procedures for the dismissal of
its chief.
The statement said, among other things, that Gasparian is legally allowed to
remain “the supreme military commander of the Armed Forces” until the end of
this week.
The government’s initial reaction to the statement was cautious, with Deputy
Prime Minister Tigran Avinian calling it “contentious” during the government’s
question-and-answer session in the parliament. Pashinian also attended the
session but chose not to comment. He earlier condemned the military’s demands as
a coup attempt,
ARMENIA -- Opposition supporters rally outside the National Assembly building to
demand Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian's resignation over his handling of last
year's war with Azerbaijan, March 3, 2021
A leader of the Homeland Salvation Movement, Vazgen Manukian, echoed the
military’s interpretation of the law when he addressed supporters continuing to
demonstrate in downtown Yerevan.
Manukian claimed that Sarkissian and lawyers from the presidential staff assured
the oppositionists that Gasparian can remain army chief until March 8. “We got
half of what we wanted … but we have time to fight on,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sarkissian’s office did not clarify whether it indeed believes
Gasparian can continue to lead the armed forces for at least several more days.
Legal experts were divided on the issue. One of them, Tigran Yegorian, told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Gasparian will automatically lose his post in the
coming hours because Sarkissian has not challenged in the Constitutional Court
the legality of his dismissal. Yegorian dismissed the military’s latest
statement as “an empty piece of paper.”
But Ara Ghazarian, a constitutional law expert, insisted that Gasparian’s
sacking must be put on hold because the president has decided to ask the court
to determine whether a relevant legal clause conforms to the Armenian
constitution.
Armenian Opposition Leader ‘Indicted’
• Artak Khulian
ARMENIA - Opposition leader Vazgen Manukian speaks to a crowd during a rally to
pressure Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to resign in Yerevan, March 1,
2021
Law-enforcement authorities have reportedly brought criminal charges against a
veteran Armenian politician who has said that opposition forces trying to topple
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian must be ready to stage an uprising.
Vazgen Manukian made the statement in a speech delivered at a rally held by the
Homeland Salvation Movement, an alliance of more than a dozen opposition
parties, on February 20.
“At any moment -- it could be today, one week later or ten days later -- we must
be ready for revolting and taking power at lightning speed,” said Manukian.
He described that as “Plan B” of the opposition campaign for Pashinian’s
resignation involving peaceful protests.
“We will follow Plan A but must always be ready for Plan B,” said the
75-year-old politician whom the opposition alliance wants to head an interim
government to be formed after Pashinian’s resignation.
Prosecutors said last week that the authorities have launched a criminal
investigation into public calls for a violent overthrow of the government.
A senior member of the Homeland Salvation Movement said on Wednesday that
Armenia Investigative Committee has formally leveled such charges against
Manukian. He condemned the move as politically motivated.
The Investigative Committee did not immediately confirm the information.
Manukian, who had served as Armenia’s prime minister and defense minister in the
early 1990s, first floated the idea of an “uprising” when he met with opposition
supporters in late January. His calls have not been officially endorsed by the
opposition bloc.
Snap Elections Inevitable, Says Pashinian Ally
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, parliament speaker Ararat Mirzoyan
(C) and his deputy Alen Simonian (R) arrive for the Armenian government's
question-and-answer session in the National Assembly, Yerevan, March 3, 2021.
The holding of snap parliamentary elections in Armenia is inevitable, a close
associate of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Wednesday.
Pashinian proposed the elections in late December following opposition protests
sparked by Armenia’s defeat in the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. Opposition forces
dismissed the offer, saying that they must be held by an interim government
after Pashinian’s resignation.
The ruling political team stated last month that it no longer sees the need to
dissolve the Armenian parliament controlled by it. It claimed that most
Armenians do not want that either.
Pashinian renewed his election offer on Monday after the Armenian military’s top
brass demanded his resignation, deepening the political crisis in the country.
One of the two opposition parties represented in the parliament, Bright Armenia
(LHK), accepted it.
LHK leader Edmon Marukian insisted on Wednesday that fresh elections are the
only realistic way to end the crisis even if they are held by the current
government. He said he will likely meet with Pashinian on Thursday.
The other parliamentary opposition party, Prosperous Armenia (BHK), again
avoided clarifying its stance. The BHK is part of an opposition alliance which
has been holding demonstrations in a bid to force Pashinian to resign.
Alen Simonian, a senior member of the ruling My Step bloc, expressed hope that
an election-related agreement with the parliamentary opposition will be reached
after all.
“In my view, there is no way we can avoid pre-term elections because they are
first and foremost needed by the authorities,” Simonian told reporters.
He at the same time said: “The elections may take place only if all sides, or at
least most of them, reach an agreement, and so we are going down that path.”
Under Armenia’s existing constitution, snap polls must be called only if
Pashinian resigns and the National Assembly twice fails to elect another prime
minister. His My Step bloc officially controls 83 seats in the 132-member
parliament and should in theory be able to easily prevent the election of
another premier nominated by the opposition minority.
Nevertheless, Pashinian demanded in January that the BHK and the LHK formally
pledge to refrain from such nominations in the event of his tactical
resignation. Both parties refused to do that.
Head Of Judicial Watchdog Under Fire From Ruling Bloc
• Anush Mkrtchian
Armenia -- Ruben Vartazarian, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, holds a news
conference in Yerevan, September 4, 2019.
The head of a state body empowered to nominate, sanction and fire Armenian
judges faced a barrage of strong criticism from pro-government lawmakers for a
second consecutive day on Wednesday.
Ruben Vartazarian, the chairman of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), was put
on the defensive as he asked the National Assembly to confirm two new senior
judges nominated by the SJC.
During a question-and-answer session that began on Tuesday, deputies
representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc ignored the
nominations and accused Vartazarian of effectively siding with the Armenian
opposition. They pointed to a November 15 statement in which Vartazarian urged
judges to prove that they are “honest professionals,” rather than “judges
whimpering under walls.”
Pashinian lambasted unnamed “whimpering” judges in 2019 when he accused the
Armenian judiciary of maintaining ties with the country’s former leadership.
The My Step deputies charged that with his controversial statement Vartazarian
encouraged courts to hand down anti-government rulings.
One of those lawmakers, Hayk Gevorgian, noted that the courts refused to
sanction the arrest of individuals charged with breaking into Armenia’s main
state buildings and ransacking them immediately after a Russian-brokered
ceasefire that stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh on November 10.
Armenia -- Deputies from the ruling My Step bloc attend a session of the
Armenian parliament, Yerevan, January 22, 2021.
Vartazarian insisted that he did not issue any politically motivated orders to
courts.
“It was a call for restraint and soberness,” he said. “I reacted to an offensive
political statement.”
“I called on my colleagues to refrain from making any political decisions in
favor of the government, the opposition or civil society and to be guided only
by the law,” Vartazarian told another parliamentarian.
In recent months, Armenian judges have refused to allow law-enforcement
authorities to arrest dozens of opposition leaders and members as well as other
anti-government activists. Virtually all of those individuals are prosecuted in
connection with street protests sparked by the Pashinian administration’s
handling of the Karabakh war.
Pashinian claimed in December that Armenia’s judicial system has become part of
a “pseudo-elite” which is trying to topple him after the disastrous war.
Vartazarian rejected the criticism.
Over 300 Kilos Of Heroin Seized In Armenia
Armenia -- A photo released by the State Revenue Committee on March 3, 2021
shows an Armenian customs officer and a sniffer dog searching through boxes
which authorities say contained heroin smuggled from Iran.
Law-enforcement authorities in Armenia said on Wednesday that they have seized
more than 300 kilograms of heroin smuggled from neighboring Iran and destined
for Europe.
The State Revenue Committee (SRC) reported that six individuals of “different
nationalities” have been arrested in what it called the country’s biggest drug
bust in seven years. The government agency comprising the Armenian tax and
customs services did not identify the suspects or specify their nationalities.
In a statement, the SRC said that officers of its anti-smuggling unit found the
heroin hidden in 33 boxes supposedly containing baker’s yeast imported from Iran
and stored at a customs warehouse in Yerevan.
“The market value of the heroin weighing, together with the packaging, about 365
kilograms is roughly $45 million,” the statement said, adding that “Western
Europe” was meant to be the consignment’s final destination.
The statement also said that the SRC and the National Security Service (NSS) are
taking “large-scale” investigative measures to try to identify more people
possibly involved in the drug trafficking case.
Armenia - Confiscated boxes at a customs warehouse in Yerevan which authorities
say contained heroin smuggled from Iran.
The case represents the second largest amount of the Class A drug ever seized in
Armenia.
In 2014, Armenian authorities confiscated as many as 850 kilograms of heroin
which they said was smuggled from Iran by a drug trafficking ring led by a
Turkish national. The man, Osman Ugurlu, was arrested and subsequently sentenced
by an Armenian court to 19 years in prison. He denied any involvement in the
massive heroin smuggling.
Iran is believed to be the main source of drug trafficking in and through
Armenia. Hundreds of Iranians as well as their local accomplices have been
imprisoned in the South Caucasus country on corresponding charges since the
1990s.
Drug trafficking is a serious challenge for Iran as it borders Afghanistan, the
world’s largest opium producer, and Pakistan, a major transit country for drugs.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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