Monday,
Prosecutors Allowed To Investigate Kocharian Trial Judge
• Karlen Aslanian
Armenia -- District court judge Davit Grigorian leaves the courtroom after
ordering former President Robert Kocharian's release from prison, May 18, 2019.
Armenia’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) has allowed the prosecution of a judge
who presided over the trial of former President Robert Kocharian and released
him on bail in May, it emerged over the weekend.
By upholding the relevant petition from the Prosecutor-General’s Office in
relation to Davit Grigorian, the oversight body also suspended the powers of
the judge pending the investigation.
SJC member Hayk Hovannisian told RFE/RL Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) that
prosecutors had requested permission for criminal proceedings on three counts,
but were allowed to investigate only two. The SJC did not disclose details of
the case.
No formal proceedings have been launched yet and the judge is not in the status
of either a suspect or an accused person, prosecutors said. Grigorian is
currently on vacation.
Earlier, the Prosecutor-General’s Office insisted that actions against the
judge were not related to the trial of Kocharian. In a statement explaining a
recent search in Grigorian’s office conducted by the Special Investigation
Service it said that investigators were looking for evidence of official
forgery related to “circumstances of a different case that was reported by a
citizen still in February.”
On May 18, district court judge Grigorian controversially ordered Kocharian
released from prison pending the outcome of the trial. He also decided to
suspend the trial, questioning the legality of coup charges brought against the
ex-president and referring the case to the Constitutional Court.
Prosecutors appealed against both decisions strongly condemned by political
allies and supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Armenia’s Court of
Appeals overturned them on June 25, which led to the re-arrest of Kocharian.
Earlier, Grigorian “voiced suspicions” that the search conducted in his office
was connected to the high-profile case against Kocharian. His lawyer Gevork
Melikian also insisted that the actions of the investigation body have
contained illegalities. In particular, according to the lawyer, the judge
should have been informed about the planned search of his office.
Supporters of Kocharian and other critics of the current government also claim
that actions of the law-enforcement agencies put pressure on the judiciary and
undermine its independence.
Armenian Soldier Killed Near Border With Azerbaijan
An Armenian soldier stands guard on the border with Azerbaijan (file photo)
An Armenian soldier has been killed near the border with Azerbaijan, a Defense
Ministry spokesman said on Sunday.
According to Artsrun Hovannisian, Arman Bulghadarian, a 24-year-old soldier
serving in the Armenian armed forces under a contract, was hit on Sunday by a
bullet released from the Azerbaijani side at the northeastern section of the
highly militarized border.
No further details of the incident have been provided.
Earlier, on Saturday, the Armenian military reported another incident at the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border in which an Armenian contract soldier was wounded.
In a statement released then Armenia’s Defense Ministry accused Azerbaijan of
seeking to escalate the border situation.
“Another provocative action by the Azerbaijani side once again proves that the
enemy continues to brazenly violate the ceasefire regime and consistently
escalate the situation on the border. It is Azerbaijan that bears full
responsibility for the escalation of the situation,” it said.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian-populated region that has been de-facto independent from Baku after a
three-year war in the early 1990s, in which an estimated 30,000 people were
killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced.
Despite a 1994 ceasefire, loss of life has continued in the conflict zone in
recurrent border skirmishes and sporadic fighting.
An internationally mediated peace process spearheaded by the Organization for
Security and Cooperation in Europe’s Minsk Group has so far failed to produce a
lasting settlement of the conflict.
Armenia Slams Azerbaijan Over Ceasefire Violations
Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalian (file photo)
Armenia has accused Azerbaijan of dishonoring its commitments to strengthen
ceasefire after border incidents over the weekend in which at least one
Armenian soldier was killed and two others were wounded.
Armenian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Anna Naghdalian said on Monday that the
recent violations show that authorities in Baku have shown disregard for the
obligations undertaken during the two countries’ leaders in Vienna, Austria,
earlier this year.
“The intentional and provocative violations of the ceasefire by Azerbaijan
contradict the commitments to maintain and strengthen the ceasefire that were
made at the level of the leaders of the two states at the Vienna Summit on
March 29. They disregard the statement adopted by the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group Co-chairs following their June
20 meeting in Washington with the [Armenian and Azerbaijani] foreign ministers,
in which the parties were urged to strictly adhere to their commitment to
respect the ceasefire and refrain from provocative actions by using snipers
along the line of contact and the state border,” Naghdalian said.
The Foreign Ministry representative stressed that Yerevan condemns “the
provocations that lead to human casualties and are accompanied by Azerbaijan’s
refusal to implement security and confidence-building measures aimed at
maintaining and strengthening the ceasefire.”
In a statement released by the Foreign Ministry Naghdalian stressed that
Azerbaijan’s actions “create a risk of increased tensions, for which the entire
responsibility lies with the Azerbaijani side.”
After the Saturday incident at the Armenian-Azerbaijani border in which an
Armenian contract soldier was wounded Armenia’s Defense Ministry also accused
Azerbaijan of seeking to escalate the border situation.
“Another provocative action by the Azerbaijani side once again proves that the
enemy continues to brazenly violate the ceasefire regime and consistently
escalate the situation on the border. It is Azerbaijan that bears full
responsibility for the escalation of the situation,” it said.
The following day military authorities in Yerevan reported that an Armenian
contract serviceman was shot dead at the northeastern section of the border
with Azerbaijan.
Defense Ministry spokesman Artsrun Hovannisian on Monday reported about another
Armenian soldier wounded at the border with Azerbaijan in the northeastern
Tavush province.
Armenia and Azerbaijan are locked in a dispute over Nagorno-Karabakh, an
Armenian-populated region that has been de-facto independent from Baku after a
three-year war in the early 1990s, in which an estimated 30,000 people were
killed and hundreds of thousands were displaced.
Despite a 1994 ceasefire, loss of life has continued in the conflict zone in
recurrent border skirmishes and sporadic fighting.
An internationally mediated peace process spearheaded by the OSCE Minsk Group
has so far failed to produce a lasting settlement of the conflict.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org
