Friday, March 5, 2021
Court Frees Armenian Government Critic
• Robert Zargarian
Armenia - Ara Saghatelian.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals on Friday set free a government critic who was
arrested late last month for allegedly creating a social media account that
spreads offensive comments about the country’s leadership.
The National Security Service (NSS) charged Ara Saghatelian, a former chief of
the Armenian parliament staff, and three other men with calling for violence and
criticizing government actions in breach of martial law declared during the
autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The NSS claimed that the “group” led by Saghatelian did that through a Facebook
page opened in the name of a certain “Gagik Soghomonyan.” It cited in particular
the “fake” user’s abusive statuses blaming Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for
Armenia’s defeat in the war, branding him a “traitor” and insulting his
supporters.
All four men denied the accusations. Courts of first instance freed two of them,
including former parliament deputy Karen Bekarian, while Saghatelian and the
fourth suspect were remanded in custody pending investigation.
The Court of Appeals overturned a Yerevan judge’s decision to allow the
two-month pre-trial arrest of Saghatelian, who had also run a government-funded
public relations agency during former President Serzh Sarkisian’s rule.
“This whole process is a political process organized and guided by the country’s
leadership,” Saghatelian told reporters after his release.
He again denied any connection with “Gagik Soghomonyan.”
The Facebook page has continued to be updated on a virtually daily basis after
the arrests condemned by the former ruling Republican Party and other opposition
groups.
Pashinian Seeks Direct Control Over State Bodyguard Agency
• Satenik Hayrapetian
Armenia -- A security service officer monitors an opposition demonstration from
the Armenian parliament building, Yerevan, March 3, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has moved to gain full and direct control over a
state agency that provides bodyguards to him and other current and former
Armenian officials.
The State Protection Service (SPS), which also protects key state buildings, is
currently part of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS).
A bill drafted by Pashinian’s office would separate the SPS from the NSS and
make it directly subordinate to the prime minister. An explanatory note attached
to it says that this would help the SPS “rapidly react to the situation on a
daily basis” and “take appropriate actions.”
The Armenian government will decide later this month whether to formally approve
the bill and send it to the National Assembly.
Nina Karapetiants, a civil rights activist, said the proposed change of the
SPS’s status suggests that Pashinian does not trust the NSS, whose directors
have been frequently replaced during his nearly three-year rule.
“It is obvious that the prime minister is trying to place under his direct
control those structures which he can trust,” Karapetiants told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service. “This means that he distrusts the NSS so much that he has
trouble entrusting it with his life.”
Areg Kochinian, a political analyst, linked the bill with heightened political
tensions in the country and, in particular, opposition attempts to topple
Pashinian over his handling of last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“International practice shows that as a rule such agencies are not part of other
bodies,” he said. “There is the Secret Service in the United States and the FSO
in Russia. They are directly subordinate to the country’s leader. So this is
normal in terms of international experience.”
Still, Kochinian questioned the wisdom of turning the SPS into a separate
agency, saying that this would run counter to Pashinian’s past promises to
streamline the state apparatus through major staff cuts. He said that the SPS
would require more government funding if it is separated from the NSS.
Pashinian already plays a decisive role in the choice of the head of the SPS.
The latter is nominated by the prime minister and appointed by the president of
the republic.
Armenian Generals Shun Ceremony Led By Defense Minister
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian and other officials visit the
Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan, March 5, 2021.
Only one high-ranking officer of the Armenian army’s General Staff attended on
Friday a ceremony led by Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian amid its
continuing standoff with the government.
Harutiunian, senior pro-government parliamentarians and other officials
accompanying him laid flowers at the grave of Vazgen Sarkisian, a former prime
minister and one of the army’s founders assassinated in 1999, to mark his 62th
birthday anniversary.
The annual wreath-laying ceremony had traditionally been attended by most senior
generals. Only one of them, Andranik Makarian, visited at the Yerablur military
pantheon with Harutiunian this time around.
Makarian, who is a deputy chief of the General Staff, was among a handful of
officers who refused to sign last week a joint statement by the military’s top
brass that accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government of misrule and
demanded its resignation.
Pashinian rejected the demand as a coup attempt and drafted a presidential
decree relieving the chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General Onik Gasparian,
of his duties. President Armen Sarkissian appears to have delayed Gasparian’s
sacking at least until March 8.
Makarian declined to explain his refusal to sign the military’s unprecedented
statement when he was approached by reporters at Yerablur. “All officers of the
Armenian army are in the army and stand with the army,” he said, refusing to
comment further.
Harutiunian was also reluctant to comment on the standoff which deepened a
post-war political crisis in Armenia. “Dear journalists, today is Vazgen
Sarkisian’s birthday and I’m not going to answer any questions,” he said.
Harutiunian was appointed as defense minister in November shortly after a
Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. He is
believed to remain loyal to the prime minister.
Pashinian’s Election Offer ‘Still Not Discussed’ By Tsarukian’s Party
• Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia -- Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian speaks at an
opposition rally in Yerevan, February 20, 2021.
The opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) remained on Friday in no rush to
respond to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s offer to hold snap general elections.
Senior representatives of the party led by Gagik Tsarukian said it has not yet
discussed the proposal aimed at ending the political crisis in the country
deepened by the Armenian military’s demands for Pashinian’s resignation.
“We will refrain from voicing personal opinions about the issue until the
[BHK’s] Political Council headed by Gagik Tsarukian discusses the proposal and
presents our political position on it,” one of them, Iveta Tonoyan, told
reporters. She did not say when the council could meet for that purpose.
Tonoyan also said that Tsarukian will not meet with Pashinian until the BHK
leadership formulates its position. “A meeting between Gagik Tsarukian and Nikol
Pashinian is not planned now,” she added.
Pashinian expressed readiness to organize fresh elections on Monday amid renewed
anti-government protests staged by an alliance of opposition parties, including
the BHK, trying to oust him over his handling of last year’s war with
Azerbaijan. He said that their conduct is conditional on consensus among his My
Step bloc, the BHK and the second opposition party represented in the
parliament: Bright Armenia (LHK).
Pashinian and LHK leader Edmon Marukian met but failed to reach any
election-related agreements on Thursday. Marukian said he insisted during the
meeting that Pashinian must stop trying to sack the country’s top army general,
Onik Gasparian. The prime minister rejected that condition, he said.
Unlike Tsarukian’s party, the LHK is not part of the opposition alliance that
set up a tent camp outside the parliament building last week. The alliance
called the Homeland Salvation Movement is scheduled to hold its next rally on
Saturday.
RFE/RL President ‘Disturbed’ By Attacks On Azatutyun Journalists In Yerevan
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly (archive photo)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President and Chief Executive Officer
Jamie Fly has expressed his concern over recent attacks on RFE/RL Armenian
Service (Azatutyun) journalists in Yerevan.
“I am disturbed by physical and verbal attacks on Azatutyun journalists covering
the February 23 protests in Yerevan. Our journalists are only trying to bring
live news reporting to our audiences in Armenia,” Fly said in a statement from
Washington on March 4.
“While I am heartened that Armenia’s Investigative Committee has initiated a
probe that could result in criminal charges against those who obstructed the
legal professional activities of Azatutyun’s journalists, I urge Armenian law
enforcement to make sure that all journalists can do their jobs without fear of
harm,” he added.
RFE/RL Armenian Service journalists RFE/RL Armenian Service journalist Artak
Khulian and cameraman Karen Chilingarian, on assignment to provide live coverage
of the opposition protests in Yerevan on February 23, were attacked by a group
of protesters who kicked them, used abusive language against them, and damaged
their equipment.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee announced on March 3 that it had opened a
probe into the attack, after a criminal case was opened by the Central Police
Department under Article 164, Part 1 of the Criminal Code (“Obstruction of the
legitimate professional activities of a journalist”).
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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