Author: Andres-Papazian

Lragir.am

FIRST FIND 9 COUNTRIES

The secretary of the National Security Council Artur Baghdasryan said
in a news conference on June 25 that the Orinats Yerkir Party approves
opening of foreign language schools as he thinks that the decision is
reasonable and does not threaten national security.

`I see no danger. As to the 9 interstate schools, first it is
necessary to find 9 governments which wish to set up a school in
Armenia under interstate agreements. I am the president of the board
of trustees of two universities under interstate agreements, the
French University of Armenia and the European Academy, the
establishment of these universities was possible through very serious
efforts. In other words, we must understand that giving a chance is
concerned, and our countrymen must be given a chance in this country
instead of neighboring Georgia. Giving a chance does not mean
jeopardizing national security. Our national security is not
threatened in this area. Simply there are two kinds of people, those
who are manipulating this issue and those who are really concerned. Do
not worry, fellow countrymen, because two private schools beside 1500
schools will do no harm, and those who are manipulating this issue,
they will do it anyway,’ Arthur Baghdasaryan said.

18:09:23 – 25/06/2010

From: A. Papazian

Lragir.am
NO SUBCOMMITTEE ON KARABAKH YET

The head of the Armenian delegation to the PACE Davit Harutiunyan
informed Radio Liberty that the Bureau has adjourned discussion of
resumption of subcommittee on Karabakh.

The president of the PACE Mevlut Chavushoghlu was to report on this
issue in the session of the Bureau who had met with the heads of
Armenian and Azerbaijani delegations and one opposition representative
on each side.

18:08:33 – 25/06/2010

From: A. Papazian

Lragir.am
LITURGY IN MEMORY OF THOSE KILLED IN BORDER INCIDENT

On Sunday the Holy See will conduct liturgy in memory of the four
Armenian soldiers killed in the incident near the village of Chaylu,
Martakert, in the morning of June 19. The information network of the
Holy See informed about this.

18:08:03 – 25/06/2010

From: A. Papazian

Lragir.am
HIGH-SPEED INTERNET IS AVAILABLE IN JERMUK

for the media and guests of the 2010 FIDE Women’s Grand Prix tournament

VivaCell-MTS a subsidiary of `Mobile TeleSystems’ OJSC, Armenia’s
Sports Partner in collaboration with network operator and wholesale
Internet provider GNC-Alfa have provided full technical solution and
onsite support to the organization of the 2009-2010 FIDE Women’s Grand
Prix Tournament in Jermuk.

Thanks to VivaCell-MTS and GNC-Alfa, the guests of tournament and
journalists have at their disposal high-speed broadband Internet
access for information exchange. VivaCell-MTS supported the creation
of a press center equipped with computers and access to Internet. The
media accredited at the press center can organize their work quickly
and more efficiently and send news reports including pictures and
video material to their headquarters from Jermuk.

Chess-lovers all around the world are able to watch the games online.
Using the most advanced broadband technologies all games of the
tournament will be uploaded and published online for public access.

Moreover, all the guests and participants of the tournament
accommodated in hotel Armenia of Jermuk are provided with high-speed
Internet access through free Wi-Fi zones thus able to stay in touch
with their families and friends.

16:09:04 – 25/06/2010

From: A. Papazian

Lragir.am

ARMENIA WAS WARNED

PACE rapporteurs urge Armenian authorities to revise media legislation

Strasbourg, 24.06.2010 – The two co-rapporteurs on Armenia of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), John Prescott
(United Kingdom, SOC) and Georges Colombier (France, EPP/CD), have
welcomed a series of initiatives outlined in the reply of the Speaker
of the Armenian Parliament to their letter recommending the
establishment of a clear roadmap for reforms in Armenia. While not
able to give a detailed assessment of the initiatives outlined in the
letter at this stage, they cautioned that more needs to be done to
ensure that the reforms address the important issues raised by the
Assembly.

`With regard to the electoral code outlined in the Speaker’s letter,
we note that the draft code has not been discussed with the opposition
in the framework of the working group especially set up for this
purpose. It is clear to us that any election code that has not been
discussed with the different political forces in the country, and that
is not based on an as wide as possible a consensus among them, will
not help to create the necessary public trust in the electoral
system,’ said the co-rapporteurs.

In addition, the co-rapporteurs expressed their concern about the
amendments to the Law on Broadcasting. They noted that several
highly-respected organisations have criticised this law for failing to
ensure the required pluralistic media environment in Armenia. In that
respect, they underscored that in the view of the Assembly, as adopted
in several of its resolutions, the reform of the legal framework for
the media in Armenia should not only result in a fully transparent
licensing procedure, but also in a far more diverse and pluralistic
media environment than is currently the case in Armenia.

The rapporteurs expressed their satisfaction with the direction of the
police reform and reform of the justice sector. In that respect they
stressed that the independence of the proposed police complaints body
should be fully guaranteed in law and that this body should have wide
investigative powers. Moreover, they stressed that the recommendations
contained in the report of OSCE/ODIHR on the trial monitoring project
in Armenia should be fully taken into account when elaborating the
reforms in the justice sector.

`We will return to Armenia in early spring to discuss these issues in
full detail with the authorities. Our discussions will also be based
upon the results of a hearing in the Monitoring Committee with a wide
range of Armenian political forces that we intend to organise,’ they
concluded.

15:51:05 – 25/06/2010

From: A. Papazian

Lragir.am

MAMMEDYAROV’S STATEMENT DOES NOT INTEREST AMBASSADOR OF AUSTRIA

In a joint news conference with the foreign minister of Armenia Eduard
Nalbandyan the federal minister of European and international affairs
of Austria Michael Spindelegger said today Austria is interested in
Nabucco, therefore the first embassy in the South Caucasus is opened
in Baku. According to him, the programs to open embassies in other
South Caucasian states are in effect.

In answer to the question on the statements of the Azerbaijani foreign
minister Mammedyarov during their joint conference in Baku, Michael
Spindelegger refused to comment on his counterpart’s statement, and he
is not here to solve the problem of Azerbaijan and Armenia. There is
the Minsk Group for this purpose, he said.

15:10:39 – 25/06/2010

From: A. Papazian

Lragir.am
THE AUTHOR OF `COUP D’ETAT’

The PACE Monitoring Committee elected Goran Lindblad as co-rapporteur
on Armenia on Thursday. The head of the Armenian delegation to the
PACE Davit Harutiunyan informed Radio Liberty from Strasburg.

On Tuesday George Colombier had informed that his term as co- rapporteur ends.

The head of the Swedish delegation to the PACE Goran Lindblad, the new
co- rapporteur on Armenia, had presented a draft in February where the
involvement of the army in the events of March 1, 2008 is described as
containing elements of coup d’etat.

15:10:02 – 25/06/2010

From: A. Papazian

WHY THE CITIZEN DOES NOT UNDERSTAND?

A week past the border incident on June 18, Serge Sargsyan visited
Karabakh and met with the wounded soldiers. Earlier he had managed to
finish his semi-cultural visit to Saint Petersburg, his visit to
Germany, opened FIDE’s grand prix tournament in Jermuk, found out the
situation of future tourism in Jermuk. In fact, all these things were
considered as more important than Karabakh, the events that happened
there, the killed and wounded soldiers. Generally, Serge Sargsyan
seems to have an interesting tactics. For instance, during the
Georgian-Russian war Armenia appears in blockade, and food and fuel
crisis starts, while Serge Sargsyan remains in Beijing and watches the
summer Olympics.

What strategy or political behavior is this? Is this indifference,
carelessness or simply demonstrative presence of mind, firmness,
display of self-confidence? Maybe Serge Sargsyan is thereby trying to
prevent panic. On the whole, however, the citizens tend to think this
is not proper. For instance, the citizen cannot understand how the
head of state can watch the Olympic Games while the country is on the
verge of food crisis. Or the citizen cannot understand how the head of
state can celebrate the 300th anniversary of the Armenian community in
Sanct Petersburg when the country has been attacked, five soldiers
were killed, and several others are wounded. By the way, the citizen
similarly cannot understand how the head of state laughs heartily when
the Turkish national team scores the Armenian national team.

Perhaps this way of thinking of the Armenian citizens is too narrow
for Serge Sargsyan’s outlook and perception. Maybe the citizens are
selfishly demanding that the president be beside them every minute,
especially in times of danger. Meanwhile, they do not understand that
it is impossible, and it is not always useful for the citizens when
the president is beside them. In most cases, it would be better if the
president were far from them.

For instance, this tactics is often used in times war when the
commander departs from the troops, diverts the enemy, enabling the
soldiers to escape from siege. Obviously, the tactical training of the
citizens of Armenia is insufficient, therefore they often cannot
understand the actions of the head of state properly and consider the
actions as improper.

And since now the issue of the system of education is urgent, maybe it
is worthwhile to think about introducing something useful in the
syllabuses of secondary schools to fill in this gap.

HAKOB BADALYAN
14:12:54 – 25/06/2010

From: A. Papazian

HAK activists hand letter to OSCE Yerevan Office

07:45 pm | June 25, 2010 | Social

Young activists of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) today marched
to the OSCE Yerevan Office chanting, “We are with you, David!”

They handed a letter to the OSCE Yerevan office requesting to urge
Armenian authorities to free David Qiramjyan arrested by plain-clothed
policemen on May 31 after stepping the recently renovated Freedom
Square.

“The protesters are determined in their demands and they call for an
immediate release of Qiramjyan,” David’s brother Hovhannes Qiramjyan
said. The latter says the country has appeared in such a state that
people needn’t get astonished by illegitimacy.

Remind that today the criminal case of David Qiramjyan and Sargis
Gevorgyan has been sent to the Court of First Instance of Kentron and
Nork-Marash Administrative Districts for the detailed investigation.

Qiramjyan is charged according to the Article 258 of the RA Criminal
Code (hooliganism) and Gevorgyan under Article 316 (violence against a
government representative).

Below is the letter of the Armenian National Congress addressed to the
OSCE Yerevan Office.

“H.E. Mr. Kanat Saudabayev,

The OSCE Chairperson-in-Office,
Kazakhstan’s Secretary of State and Foreign Minister

Excellency,

Since 2003, when the OSCE Office in Yerevan and the Armenian police
signed their first memorandum of understanding, the Office has
initiated the implementation of a number of projects focusing on the
introduction of democratic policing practices. The Armenian Media has
been broadly covering the involvement of the OSCE in the process of
the reformation of the Police.

Just to make a comparison – in 2004 our neighboring Georgia also
started similar programme. As a result of deep structural reforms
today almost 80 % of the population of Georgia trusts the Police. Now
the Ministry of Interior of Georgia became one of the most credible
and efficient structures in the country. Citizens of Armenia,
notwithstanding TV blockade on any positive information on Georgia,
are also aware that with the assistance of international structures,
the political leadership of Georgia successfully implemented the task
of the fighting the Police corruption and making its work visible and
transparent to everybody.

Coming to Armenia we also see statements, mainly by the OSCE, on the
success of the reforms in Police. However what we see on the ground is
that 5 years after the cooperation with the OSCE Yerevan Office,
during March 1, 2008 events, the Police shot to death 10 peaceful
demonstrators and bullet-wounded about 200 persons. Then the Police
arrested more than 150 opposition supporters and intimidated
thousands. We do not state, that it happened due to failings of the
international organizations, since we know the capacity of cooperation
and the depth of the involvement of the international community in the
reforms. But we strongly regret that no statement, calling or stating
that Armenian Police must behave as an institution should in
democratic country, has been made by the organization leading that
process – the OSCE. There was no condemnation or even a reaction of
the OSCE Yerevan Office on the bloody crackdown on opposition, no
comments on the persecutions of oppositional figures months and years
followed the March 1 deadly events.

Now the OSCE supports another Police Reform programme, which covers 11
areas. How credible could be the programme when the OSCE Yerevan
Office did not react to the vandal behavior of the Police on May 28,
29, 30 and 31, June 1, 2010? On these days the Armenian Police
violated the right to freedom of movement by not letting to enter the
Freedom Square (Azatutyan hraparak). During the mentioned 5 days,
about 30 Armenian citizens were apprehended by the police without any
legal substantiation. David Qiramijyan, a nineteen-year-old student,
who studies at the Institute of Cinema and Theatre, is among them.
Probably feeling the backing of one of the most prominent
international organizations, the Police charged three persons with
serious indictments. The reporter of Armenian Times daily Ms. Ani
Gevorgian is among that three.

Mr. David Qiramijyan, who was arrested on May 31, just wanted to enter
the Freedom Square with some young members of the opposition. David
was arrested by people who were not dressed in police uniforms. Then
during the transportation to the Police station he was beaten by
police officers and his leg, which had already undergone a surgical
operation, was injured yet again and, in addition, he is currently
suffering also from constant headaches. He has not been provided with
any medical care until today, in spite of the results of his medical
examination available to the police, in which it is clearly stated
that David needs medical care and in the absence of appropriate
medical interventions he risks losing the ability to move.

On June 3, David Qiramijyan was charged with hooliganism and was
sanctioned to 2 months detention as a detention measure. According to
the Armenian Legislation and various international agreements the
decision of the court is illegal.

The leadership of the Armenian National Congress has provided to the
OSCE Yerevan Office the video materials of the attack of the Police,
so the brutality of the actions of the police is obvious. We believed
that after that there would be relevant reaction, pressure on the
Police to release Mr. David Qiramijyan. However there was no reaction
by the OSCE Yerevan Office, which allowed authorities to continue
keeping the young activist in prison.

Dear Minister,

We would like to ask you to urge the Armenian authorities to free
David Qiramjyan immediately, since he has not committed any crime. He
only used his right of free movement and we would like to ask you to
urge the authorities to identify the real instigators. We also are
requesting you to execute your authority to make the OSCE Yerevan
Office’s efforts in the reformation of Armenian Police more
effective.”

From: A. Papazian

`Non-humanitarian posture can lead to political resentment’

07:16 pm | June 25, 2010 | Social

A group of Armenian citizens have applied to the Public Council
protesting against the judicial system, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan,
Chairman of Public Council’s Commission on Civil Society Consolidation
Affairs, said today.

“The analysis of the appeals has shown that most of our citizens are
unaware of their rights, hence they take a passive stance in legal
affairs,” Mr. Hovhannisyan said.

57 percent of citizens complain of high-ranking officials.

“I think it is high time we spoke about the norms of ethics of state
officials,” he said and added that in most cases citizens are
discontent with the officials’ inhuman attitude and non-professional
approach.

“This non-humanitarian posture of our officials can lead to political
resentment. On the other hand, I would like to note that our citizens
with their passiveness contribute to officials’ arbitrary acts. If we
want to build a civil society, we must stand in the shoes of
citizens.”

The Commission has forwarded part of the letters to relevant bodies
and to the Head of RA President’s Staff.

From: A. Papazian