According to Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's decisions, Kristine Grigoryan has been appointed First Deputy Minister of Justice after being dismissed as deputy minister, while Suren Grigoryan has been named as Deputy Minister of Justice.
Currently, Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan has four deputies, two advisors and two assistants.
Azerbaijan made every effort to disrupt the implementation of demining programs in Armenia and Artsakh, Armenian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Anna Naghdalyan said in response to a question of reporters on Tuesday. The question and answer, publicized by the Foreign Ministry's press service, are provided below.
Question: The Azerbaijani authorities in their recent statements accused the Armenian side of not providing maps of minefields of the territories fallen under the Azerbaijani control. How would you comment on those statements?
Answer: As you know, the Azerbaijani authorities are blatantly violating the international humanitarian law and their commitments under the provisions of the November 9 statement to repatriate Armenian prisoners of war and civilians who are still being held in captivity. In fact, in response to the pressure of the international community on this issue, the Azerbaijani side is trying to create grounds for justifying its non-compliance by putting forward a fake agenda of minefield maps. The fact that the Azerbaijani officials are raising this issue exclusively in the public field is a case in point.
Throughout the conflict, the Azerbaijani side didn’t make any proposal to cooperate on demining issues; moreover, it made every effort to disrupt the implementation of demining programs in Armenia and Artsakh. It is enough to recall that Azerbaijan in 2016 blocked the extension of the mandate of the OSCE Office in Yerevan under the pretext of the latter’s support to demining programmes, which led to the closing of the OSCE field mission in Armenia.
We call on the Azerbaijani authorities to refrain from attempts to mislead the international community and to undertake tangible steps to fulfill its commitments undertaken by the November 9 trilateral statement and under the international humanitarian law, which entails the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of war, captured civilians and their repatriation.
For two and a half years, the lawyers of Armenia’s former President Robert Kocharyan “have repeatedly warned” that Article 300.1 of the Criminal Code has problems with applicability and certainty, one of the lawyers, Aram Orbelyan, told reporters on Tuesday, after a court in Yerevan ruled to end the criminal prosecution against Kocharyan and three other former top officials under the article.
“Still at the stage of preliminary investigation more than 2.5 years ago, we filed a motion to the prosecutor asking for the opinion of the Constitutional Court over Article 300.1,” the lawyer said, stressing the need to reveal how much money the state has spent on conducting criminal proceedings, the illegality of which, according to him, was initially clear to everyone.
“Now they [the prosecutors] have applied to the Constitutional Court. There is no mechanism for altering [the accusations] and there are no grounds for bringing a new charge [against Kocharyan],” the lawyer said.
As for Article 309 of the Criminal Code, Orbelyan said its statute of limitations expired long ago.
“The mania to convict a person at any cost is in itself illegal, inhuman and unconstitutional. We must finally realize the presumption of innocence is one of the most important human rights,” he said, adding that the Prosecutor’s Office should also be guided by the presumption of innocence, which says a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The lawyer also said that no clear decision on the violation of Kocharyan’s rights has yet been made.
“It’s for our client to decide on what processes to start. In my opinion, all persons whose rights have been violated should launch a process to protect their rights. This is the tool which will make the Prosecutor's Office refrain from the desire to convict persons at any cost and begin to fulfill its duties of restoring the rule of law,” Orbelyan said.
April 5, 2021
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko
Official Moscow is convinced that the OSCE Minsk Group should play a leading role in advancing a settlement for the Karabakh conflict, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said in an interview on Sunday.
Late last week, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said in a speech delivered at the virtual summit of the Cooperation Council of Turkic-speaking States that the OSCE Minks Group co-chairs played “zero” role in resolving the conflict, claiming that his policy of aggression ensured a “victory” for Azerbaijan.
“We are convinced that the format of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs should play a leading role in the future in overcoming the consequences of the crisis and in finding ways for a lasting and long-term political and diplomatic solution to the conflict,” Rudenko told the Moscow-Baku news agency in an interview.
He also claimed that main principles outlined in the November 9 agreement that ended military actions in Karabakh were based on what was developed by the Minsk Group co-chairs.
“The main settlement principles developed by the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chair are the basis of the statement by the leaders of Russia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia on November 9, 2020, on the ceasefire and the cessation of all hostilities in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone,” explained Rudenko, adding the Russia, as one of the Minsk Group co-chairing, worked closely with the other two—United States and France—to stop the bloodshed.
“Russia sees the role of the OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs in the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, taking into consideration that it was Russia’s mediation role that actually led to concrete results in the settlement of this conflict,” said Rudenko.
Russia’s deputy foreign minister also remarked about Armenia’s upcoming snap parliamentary elections, scheduled to take place in June, calling on all political forces to exercise restrain ahead of the polls.
In a separate interview on Friday with the Armenian Novoye Vremya newspaper, Rudenko said that Moscow cannot be indifference to the goings on in Armenia, despite the fact the elections are Armenia’s domestic business
“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 told Novoye Vremyan when asked whether Moscow supports any of the Armenian election contenders.
Rudenko insisted that Russian-Armenian relations have been “developing dynamically at various levels and regardless of any external or internal developments,” despite certain circles with close ties to the Kremlin recently claiming a schism between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, reported Azatutyun.am.
As an example Rudenko cited the more than 60 phone calls held between Putin and Pashinyan as a measurement of the “dynamic” relations. Reportedly, most of the 60-plus calls took place during last fall’s Karabakh war.
April 5, 2021
U.S. State Department
In its annual “Country Report” State Dept. also highlights rise in hate speech against Armenians in Turkey
In its 2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, the State Department confirmed that Turkey played a role in last fall’s Karabakh war and highlighted that Azerbaijan committed what amount to be war crimes during its aggressive attacks against Artsakh.
Among the war crimes highlighted in the report were examples of Azerbaijan’s military strikes against civilian targets and the torture and abuse of Armenian prisoners.
The report states that Azerbaijan’s invasion of Nagorno-Karabakh was conducted “with Turkish support”.
The State Department acknowledged “significant human rights issues” perpetrated by Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh, including “unlawful killings, civilian casualties, and inhuman treatment.”
“For example, on October 3 and December 11, Human Rights Watch criticized Azerbaijan’s armed forces for repeatedly using weapons on residential areas in Nagorno-Karabakh,” says the 2020 Country Report.
“On October 5, Amnesty International crisis response experts corroborated the authenticity of video footage–consistent with the use of cluster munitions–from the city of Stepanakert that was published in early October and identified Israeli-made cluster munitions that appeared to have been fired by Azerbaijani armed forces. The Hazardous Area Life-support Organization (HALO) Trust, an international nongovernmental organization (NGO) working in Nagorno-Karabakh to clear unexploded ordnance, confirmed the use of cluster munitions in operations striking civilian infrastructure in Nagorno-Karabakh during intensive fighting in the fall,” the report said.
In its 2020 Turkey Country Report, the State Department also highlighted that Armenian minority groups in Turkey reported a rise in hate speech and coded language directed against the Armenian community, including from high-level government officials, noting that the word “Armenian” still is considered to be slur in Turkey.
“After the outbreak of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan on September 27, members of the Armenian minority reported increased anti-Armenian rhetoric, including in traditional and social media. Supporters of Azerbaijan staged car convoys featuring Azerbaijani flags in Istanbul near the Armenian Patriarchate and in districts with large Armenian populations,” the report said.
“The Hrant Dink Foundation recorded a threefold increase in hate speech targeting Armenians in the week of September 27-October 5, citing more than 1,000 news reports and commentary featuring anti-Armenian language meeting the organization’s criteria for hate speech. On October 5, HDP MP and ethnic Armenian Turk Garo Paylan stated he had been threatened and noted that a pro-government think tank had placed newspaper ads calling him a spy for supporting Armenia,” added the report.
“Hate speech and calls for violence against Armenians surged to an unprecedented level in Azerbaijan too, especially during Baku’s aggression against Nagorno-Karabakh. Turks and Azeris living abroad were filmed threatening Armenians and attacking them during peaceful gatherings and rallies across the world,” noted the report.
09:48, 5 April, 2021
YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, received on April 4 Member of the European Parliament François-Xavier Bellamy who was accompanied by French Ambassador to Armenia Jonathan Lacôte, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin reports.
His Holiness Garegin II thanked the authorities and people of France for supporting Armenia at all times. He expressed hope that the support of France will contribute to the stabilization of the situation in the region and the restoration of justice.
MEP François-Xavier Bellamy thanked Garegin II for the wishes and blessings, stating that he is visiting Armenia for the first time and noting that it’s a great honor for him to be in the ancient Christian country the people of which are bearers of the victorious values of resurrection.
The MEP also presented the purpose of his visit, that is to get acquainted with the post-war situation, the current problems, the preservation of the Armenian spiritual-cultural values in Artsakh.
Introducing the damages caused by the recent war in Artsakh, as well as the current challenges, the Catholicos of All Armenians expressed hope that the aggression unleashed by Azerbaijan and the subsequent developments will receive a proper reaction by the international community and the European Parliament.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
11:03, 5 April, 2021
YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. The Armenian healthcare ministry said that 479 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed over the last 24 hours, bringing the cumulative total number of confirmed cases to 197,113.
3581 tests were performed in the past day.
880 people recovered, bringing the total number of recoveries to 176,889.
22 patients died, raising the death toll to 3614. This number doesn’t include the deaths of 923 other individuals (2 in the last 24 hours) infected with the virus, who according to authorities died from other pre-existing illnesses.
As of April 5, 11:00 the number of active cases stood at 15,687.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
12:12, 5 April, 2021
STEPANAKERT, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. Search and rescue operations for those missing in the 2020 Artsakh war continue in the Jrakan region, the Artsakh Interior Ministry said.
1529 bodies were found during the search and rescue operations since the ceasefire took effect.
Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan
12:19, 5 April, 2021
YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. The Italian town of San Vito dei Normanni has unanimously adopted a resolution recognizing the independence of Artsakh, the Armenian Embassy in Italy reports.
“We would like to thank the members of the community council of San Vito dei Normanni for unanimously adopting the resolution on the independence of Artsakh submitted by council member Vincenzo Calabretti. In the resolution the community council expresses solidarity to the people of the Republic of Artsakh, condemns the Azerbaijani aggression and urges the authorities of Italy to recognize the Republic of Artsakh”, the Embassy said in a statement.
In his turn author of the resolution Vincenzo Calabretti also thanked the Mayor of San Vito dei Normanni and the council members for adopting the resolution.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
14:09, 5 April, 2021
YEREVAN, APRIL 5, ARMENPRESS. His Holiness Garegin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, visited the Yerablur Military Pantheon, accompanied by clergymen.
His Holiness Garegin II delivered a mass for the memory of all heroes fallen for the defense of the Homeland.
The Catholicos of All Armenians also laid flowers at their tombs.
Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan