Friday, April 2, 2021
Prosecutors Reluctant To Drop Coup Charges Against Kocharian
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian talks to his lawyers during his
trial, Yerevan, April 2, 2021.
Prosecutors have refused to drop coup charges against former President Robert
Kocharian that have been declared unconstitutional by Armenia’s Constitutional
Court.
Kocharian as well as two retired generals are prosecuted under Article 300.1 of
the Armenian Criminal Code dealing with “overthrow of the constitutional order.”
The accusation rejected by them as politically motivated stems from the 2008
post-election unrest in Yerevan that left ten people dead.
The current Criminal Code was enacted in 2009. The previous code, which was in
force during the dramatic events of March 2008, had no clauses on “overthrow of
the constitutional order” and contained instead references to “usurpation of
state power.”
The Constitutional Court last week backed defense lawyers’ arguments that that
Article 300.1 cannot be used retroactively against Kocharian and the other
defendants.
Citing the court ruling, the lawyers have demanded that the Anna Danibekian, a
Yerevan judge presiding over their two-year trial, throw out the coup charges.
Trial prosecutors objected to the demand on Friday. One of them, Gevorg
Baghdasarian, revealed that Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian has appealed to the
Constitutional Court to also declare unconstitutional legal provisions that do
not allow the prosecutors to alter the accusations leveled against the
defendants.
Davtian insisted in his appeal that Kocharian and retired Generals Seyran
Ohanian and Yuri Khachaturov must be prosecuted for what they did in March 2008
because their actions contained “elements not allowed by the Criminal Code.”
Baghdasarian said Danibekian should therefore suspend the trial pending a
Constitutional Court ruling on Davtian’s appeal.
Kocharian’s lawyers rejected the prosecutors’ demand as illegal. They insisted
that the presiding judge must end the coup trial altogether.
Danibekian responded by saying that she will announce her decision on Tuesday.
Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, also stands accused of
bribe-taking. He strongly denies that accusation as well.
Moscow Hopes For Pre-Election Calm In Armenia
• Heghine Buniatian
RUSSIA -- A view of Kremlin' Grand Kremlin Palace, towers, churches and frozen
Moskva (Moscow) river in Moscow, February 14, 2018
Russia hopes that political tensions in Armenia will not boil over in the run-up
to snap parliamentary elections expected in June, a senior Russian diplomat said
in an interview published on Friday.
Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko told the “Novoye Vremya” Armenian
newspaper that while Moscow considers the elections Armenia’s internal affair it
“cannot stay indifferent to what is happening in a friendly country.”
“We call on all political forces in the republic to show restraint and look for
reasonable compromises to consolidate Armenian society. We express hope that
during the pre-election period everything will go peacefully and within the
framework of the constitution and serve as a starting point for achieving
long-term stability in Armenia,” he said when asked whether Moscow supports any
of the Armenian election contenders.
The Kremlin confirmed, meanwhile, that Russian President Vladimir Putin and
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian are scheduled to meet in Moscow on April
7. Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters that the upcoming Armenian
elections will be on the agenda of their talks.
Pashinian announced on March 18 plans to hold the elections following renewed
opposition protests against his rule which were sparked by Armenia’s defeat in
last year’s war with Azerbaijan.
The Armenian military’s top brass added its voice to opposition demands for
Pashinian’s resignation in an unprecedented statement issued on February 25. The
prime minister condemned the statement as a coup attempt.
Moscow expressed concern at the deepening political crisis in Armenia. Putin
discussed it with Pashinian in a phone call later on February 25.
In recent months, prominent members of Russia’s large Armenian community, among
them Kremlin-linked media figures and wealthy businessmen, have also called for
Pashinian’s resignation. Their statements have fuelled more speculation about
Putin’s distrust of Pashinian.
Rudenko insisted, however, that Russian-Armenian relations have been “developing
dynamically at various levels and regardless of any external or internal
developments.” He argued in particular that Putin and Pashinian had more than 60
phone calls last year.
Most of those conversations apparently took place during the autumn war in
Nagorno-Karabakh stopped by a Russian-brokered ceasefire.
New High-Tech Industry Minister Named
Armenia - Hayk Chobanian.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has replaced Armenia’s Minister of High-Tech
Industry Hakob Arshakian who resigned on Wednesday almost two weeks after
assaulting a journalist at a restaurant in Yerevan.
Arshakian’s successor, Hayk Chobanian, has served as governor of northern Tavush
province for the last two years.
Pashinian announced his decision to appoint Chobanian as the new minister of
high-tech industry during a cabinet meeting held on Thursday. President Armen
Sarkissian formalized the appointment with a decree signed on Friday.
Speaking at the cabinet meeting, Pashinian praised Arshakian’s track record but
did not comment on the reason for his resignation.
Arshakian and his wife dined at a Yerevan restaurant on March 18 when he was
approached by Paylak Fahradian, the editor of the Irakanum.am news website. The
latter asked the minister to explain why he is not at work. Footage from a
security camera showed Arshakian hitting Fahradian in the face and damaging his
laptop computer moments later.
Arshakian apologized to the journalist several days after the incident. In a
statement issued on Wednesday, he said he will step down because he believes it
is “unacceptable for an official to use violence against any citizen.”
Arshakian, 35, is a senior member of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. He has
held the ministerial post since October 2018.
Russia In Fresh Talks With Armenia, Azerbaijan
• Aza Babayan
Russia - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov meets with his Armenian
counterpart Aya Ayvazian in Moscow, April 1, 2021.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov discussed with his Armenian and
Azerbaijani counterparts the implementation of Russian-brokered agreements to
stop the war in Nagorno-Karabakh during separate talks held in Moscow late on
Thursday.
According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the three ministers touched upon
“humanitarian” issues and the “unblocking of economic and transport links” in
the region.
Armenian Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian was cited by his office as telling Lavrov
that Azerbaijan is continuing to violate the ceasefire agreement brokered by
Moscow on November 9. Ayvazian singled out Baku’s refusal to free more than 100
Armenian prisoners of war and civilians remaining in Azerbaijani custody.
The truce accord calls for the restoration of transport links between Armenia
and Azerbaijan. Russian President Vladimir Putin, his Azerbaijani counterpart
Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian decided to set up a
trilateral “working group” for that purpose when they met in Moscow on January
11.
The group co-headed by deputy prime ministers of the three states has held
several meetings since January 30. Its Russian co-chair, Alexei Overchuk, met
with Aliyev and Pashinian in Baku and Yerevan on Thursday.
Aliyev reportedly praised the trilateral group, saying that it has already
achieved concrete results. He also told Overchuk that the risk of a renewed
escalation of the Karabakh conflict is now minimal.
Aliyev and Putin spoke by phone later on Thursday. According to the Kremlin,
they both were satisfied with the work of the Russian-Armenian-Azerbaijani task
force.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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