Wednesday,
Prosecutors Not Allowed To Bring New Charges Against Kocharian
Armenia - Former President Robert Kocharian greets supporters rallying in
Yerevan, May 9, 2021.
Armenia’s Constitutional Court has refused to enable prosecutors to bring new
coup charges against former President Robert Kocharian and two retired generals
who were prosecuted in connection with the 2008 post-election violence in
Yerevan.
Kocharian and retired Generals Seyran Ohanian and Yuri Khachaturov were charged
in 2018 with the “overthrow of the constitutional order.”
In a March 26 ruling, the Constitutional Court declared the accusation
unconstitutional, saying that there was no such article in the former Armenian
Criminal Code, which was in force in 2008, and that the current code cannot be
used retroactively against the defendants.
In response to that ruling, Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian asked the
Constitutional Court to also declare unconstitutional legal provisions that do
not allow his office to alter the coup accusations. He insisted that Kocharian,
Ohanian and Khachaturov must still be prosecuted for what they did in March 2008
because their actions contained “elements not allowed by the Criminal Code.”
Other prosecutors said, meanwhile, that the coup trial of the three men should
be suspended, rather than discontinued altogether, pending a Constitutional
Court verdict on the appeal. A lower court judge presiding over the trial
dismissed their arguments and threw out the coup charges on April 6.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General said on Wednesday that Davtian’s appeal has
also been rejected. In a statement, it said the high court ruled that the chief
prosecutor was not even allowed to challenge the constitutionality of legal
provisions relating to an ongoing criminal case.
Davtian’s office denounced the court’s “arbitrary” decision, saying that it
contradicts the Armenian constitution.
Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, is continuing to stand trial on
separate charges of bribe-taking which he also rejects as politically motivated.
The 66-year-old ex-president leads a newly formed opposition alliance which is
expected to be a major contender in snap parliamentary elections scheduled for
June 20.
OSCE Starts Election Observation Mission In Armenia
• Nane Sahakian
Armenia - Eoghan Murphy, head of an OSCE election observation mission in
Armenia, at a news conference in Yerevan, .
The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe officially launched on
Wednesday its observation mission for Armenia’s parliamentary elections slated
for June 20.
“The mission will assess to what extent the elections are held in line with
international obligations and standards for democratic elections,” the OSCE’s
Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) said in a statement.
The mission head, Eoghan Murphy, told reporters that the ODIHR plans to deploy
11 election experts and 24 long-term observers in Armenia in the coming days and
weeks.
Murphy said it will also ask OSCE member states to send 250 short-term observers
who will monitor voting and ballot counting at polling stations across the
country. Both he and the ODIHR statement cautioned that their arrival could be
hampered by the coronavirus pandemic.
“This remains dependent on developments in connection with the COVID-19
pandemic, including health concerns, travel and border restrictions across the
OSCE region, and related regulations within Armenia,” said the statement.
The OSCE/ODIHR has traditionally deployed the largest international
vote-monitoring missions in Armenia. Their findings have been crucial for the
international legitimacy of Armenian elections.
The chief of the Armenian government’s staff, Arsen Torosian, and the chairman
of the Central Election Commission, Tigran Mukuchian, discussed preparations for
the upcoming elections with Yerevan-based foreign diplomats on Tuesday.
Torosian assured the diplomats that the government will do its best to ensure
that the vote is free and fair. According to a government statement, he also
touched upon the pandemic’s possible impact on its conduct.
The snap elections are supposed to end a serious political crisis triggered by
Armenia’s defeat in last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Americans Advised Against Travel To Armenia, Azerbaijan
U.S. - A sign stand outside the U.S. State Department building in Washington,
September 12, 2012.
The U.S. State Department has advised Americans to avoid traveling to Armenia or
Azerbaijan and to “exercise caution on roads” close to the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border.
The department described the coronavirus pandemic as the main reason for the
separate travel advisories released by it on Tuesday. It said the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control has issued travel health notices indicating a “very high
level of COVID-19” in both South Caucasus countries.
The daily number of officially confirmed coronavirus cases in Armenia has fallen
significantly for the last three weeks. The Armenian Ministry of Health reported
on Wednesday morning that 229 more people have tested positive for COVID-19 in
the past day, sharply down from over 1,000 single-day case repeatedly registered
in the first half of April.
“Exercise caution on roads near Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan,” read one of
the travel advisories. “Be aware that some portions of the road may cross
international boundaries without notice. Roads may be controlled by checkpoints
or closed to travelers without notice.”
The State Department issued the same warning to U.S. citizens who are currently
in Azerbaijan. It also cited a “longstanding risk presented by terrorist groups,
who continue plotting possible attacks in Azerbaijan.”
Both statements warned Americans against travelling to Nagorno-Karabakh and
surrounding territories “due to recent hostilities.” “Casualties continue to
occur following intensive fighting in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict that
occurred in the fall 2020,” they explained.
Armenia and Azerbaijan have been locked in a border standoff over the past week,
with Yerevan accusing Azerbaijani forces of advancing several kilometers into
Armenian territory. The Armenian military warned on Tuesday that it could use
force to drive them out if the dispute is not resolved peacefully soon.
U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan expressed concern over the border
tensions on Monday in separate phone calls with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Sullivan said afterwards that
both leaders are committed to a “peaceful resolution of border tensions through
dialogue.”
The State Department earlier urged Baku to immediately “pull back all forces.”
Moscow Offers To Facilitate Armenian-Azeri Border Demarcation (UPDATED)
• Aza Babayan
• Artak Khulian
AZERBAIJAN -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov speaks during a joint news
conference with Azerbaijan's Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov following their
meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan May 11, 2021.
Russia offered on Wednesday to help Armenia and Azerbaijan demarcate their
border some portions of which have been the scene of a military standoff over
the past week.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow has proposed that the two
sides set up a commission on the delimitation and demarcation of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border and expressed readiness to participate in its
activities as a “consultant or mediator.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the idea with his Azerbaijani
counterpart Ilham Aliyev in a phone call reported later in the day.
“The Russian side will continue its mediation efforts and consultative support
aimed at achieving an agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on the launch of
a process of delimitation and demarcation of their state border,” the Kremlin
said in a statement on the conversation.
The secretary of Armenia’s Security Council, Armen Grigorian, confirmed the
Russian proposal, saying that it was formally conveyed to Yerevan on Tuesday.
“In response to it, the Armenian side has stressed the need for the withdrawal
of Azerbaijani forces from Armenia’s sovereign territory before the launch of
such work,” Grigorian told the Armenpress news agency. “Only after that would
conditions be created for such discussions.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian made similar comments on the issue at a meeting
in Yerevan before talking to Putin by phone in the evening. Pashinian’s office
said the two men agreed on the “ways and methodology of resolving the crisis.”
It did not elaborate.
Armenia maintains that Azerbaijani troops advanced several kilometers into its
Syunik and Gegharkunik provinces last week. Azerbaijan denies that, saying its
forces simply took up new positions on the Azerbaijani side of the frontier.
Yerevan has condemned the Azerbaijani troop movements as a violation of its
territorial integrity and asked Russia and the Russian-led Collective Security
Treaty Organization (CSTO) for military support.
Lavrov did not comment on the possibility of such aid when he spoke in
Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe ahead of a meeting of the foreign ministers of the
CSTO member states. He told reporters that they already discussed the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border standoff and “the request of our Armenian
colleagues” at an informal meeting held late on Tuesday.
Russian military officials participated in a series of Armenian-Azerbaijani
negotiations held on the border last week.
According to the Armenian Defense Ministry, the talks did not resume as planned
on Wednesday afternoon because Azerbaijani military officials did not show up.
In another statement issued in the morning, the ministry said it still hopes for
a negotiated solution to the dispute. It again warned that if this does not
happen “within a reasonable timeframe” Yerevan will reserve the right to remove
the Azerbaijani troops from Armenian territory by force.
Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian likewise warned of “unpredictable
consequences” of the standoff when he spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergei
Shoigu by phone on Monday. By contrast, Lavrov seemed to downplay the gravity of
the border crisis, saying in Moscow that he sees no need to “whip up emotions on
this issue.”
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2021 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
