Author: Babajanian Karo

The Sons of a Nigerian `Presidential Candidate’ Took an Armenian `for a Ride’

November 2, 2012 14:31

The trial court of the Ararat and Vayots Dzor regions presided by
Gagik Sargsyan (with the participation of prosecutors Hmayak Hakobyan
and Arsen Arsenyan) has finished consideration of charges brought
against Fortunate Ikemsinachi Nwaigwe.

Yesterday the appeal of the latter was considered by the Court of
Criminal Appeals.

On September 24, the case of the Nigerian citizen was heard in Artashat.

Fortunate Nwaigwe was arrested on June 8.

According to the case facts, he was taken into custody on June 11.

On July 24, H. Hakobyan, the deputy prosecutor of the Ararat region,
decided to change custody as the measure of restraint against
Fortunate Nwaigwe and he was released on parole.

On June 8, no. 44107212 criminal case was opened at the investigation
department (investigator P. Yeghiazaryan) according to Article 178,
Section 3, Clause 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia
regarding the crime of serious fraud in the amount of $9.000
(3.609.822 AMD) committed by Fortunate Ikemsinachi Nwaigwe and some
Rosy against Andranik Danoyan.

According to the indictment, in April 2012, Fortunate Ikemsinachi
Nwaigwe, Mariam Traore and some black man met Andranik Danoyan, a
resident of the village of Marmarashen, region of Ararat, while
walking down the Masis highway heading to the city of Yerevan.
According to the case facts, `Danoyan was surprised that one of the
black people spoke Armenian, he invited them to a trailer on his land,
treated them to coffee and talked to Fortunate Nwaigwe who spoke
Armenian and who introduced himself as Patrick, said that he was a
footballer, introduced his black wife as Rosy, said she was his sister
and introduced

the other man as his friend. Fortunate Ikemsinachi Nwaigwe expressed a
wish to visit Danoyan again, while being in the town of Masis.’

The other two black people talked to A. Danoyan through Fortunate
Nwaigwe. By the way, Fortunate said that they lived in the Armenia
Marriott Hotel, that his sister had come from France to carry out
business projects and they wanted to buy land and enclosures and
engage in cattle breeding, as well as to buy an apartment in Masis.
Naïve Danoyan offered them to buy the land in the village of
Marmarashen that belonged to him and promised the black people to help
them with business.

F. Nwaigwe and M. Traore said that their father had been killed in the
Republic of Nigeria, since he had been a presidential candidate and
his friends had given to their mother $2 million as financial
assistance and their mother would sent a part of that money to them
within the next month to start a business, they promised to help A.
Donoyan, to buy the land, as well as to give him money, but they asked
him not to tell anyone about their plans for safety. A. Danoyan
brought the latter to Yerevan, Armenia Marriott Hotel, in his car and
realized that they really lived there.

Fortunate Nwaigwe called A. Danoyan on his phone and asked him to lend
him $3000, in order that he could pay for the hotel room, which cost
$300 a day. On April 11, A. Danoyan gave $1000 to Fortunate. A.
Danoyan saw a black suitcase in Fortunate’s hand, which M. Traore
offered to keep in A. Danoyan’s house as a safe place, to which A.
Danoyan agreed and went to his house in the village of Marmarashen,
region of Ararat, with them. A. Danoyan kept the suitcase in a cellar
attached to his house.

What was kept in the cellar?

In the cellar of A. Danoyan’s house in the village of Marmarashen, A.
Danoyan gave F. Nwaigwe $8000 in $100 banknotes. M. Traore took
cotton, foil, medical gloves and masks out of her bag, after which she
wrote down the numbers of the banknotes in a notebook, then she took
some liquid with pungent smell out of the suitcase and smeared it on
all the banknotes, put them between black papers cut in the shape of a
banknote, which she had taken out of the suitcase. In the meantime,
they sent A. Danoyan away from the cellar using different excuses, to
bring a stone, a metal plate and water. After that, they wrapped the
bundle of black paper with foil and told A. Danoyan that they had to
be kept in that condition for 2 days and then left. Two days later, F.
Nwaigwe and M. Traore didn’t come and on the third day, A. Danoyan
opened the package with suspicion and saw that $8000 he had given were
not there, only then he understood that he had been deceived and
started to look for the black people.

On July 13, 2012, Mariam Traore was involved as an accused in
accordance with Article 178, Section 3, Clause 1 of the Criminal Code
of the Republic of Armenia and was wanted by the police. On August 6,
2012, the part of the criminal case regarding Mariam Traore was
separated from it on the grounds of not revealing her whereabouts.

Fortunate Nwaigwe had a speedy trial.

The court found Fortunate guilty in accordance with Article 178,
Section 3, Clause 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia
and sentenced him to 4 years in prison without

confiscation of property. His measure of restraint, release on parole,
was left unchanged until the verdict went into effect. Yesterday he
was sentenced to 4 years in prison, 3 out of which will be served on
probation.

RUZAN MINASYAN

Did an Investigator of the Military Prosecutor’s Office Call a Mother
Who Had Lost Her Son a `Whore’?

November 2, 2012 13:39

Yesterday another incident took place in the investigation department
of the Ministry of Defense between mothers of a few soldiers who had
died in the army under peaceful conditions and officials of the
investigation department, Ministry of Defense of the Republic of
Armenia. According to , the situation became so tense
that Yura Badalyan, an investigator of special cases, Republic of
Armenia Military Prosecutor’s Office, pushed them back, insulted and
called Irina Ghazaryan, the mother of Artur Ghazaryan who had died in
the army, a `whore’? talked to Gohar Sargsyan, the
mother of Tigran Ohanjanyan, a serviceman who had died in 2007. She
told about the incident in detail, `We went to the investigation
department of the Ministry of Defense from the Government Building, in
order to get information on the cases of our children. The
investigators of some parents’ cases had changed, but they hadn’t had
information for three months. When we said that we wanted to see Armen
Harutyunyan, the head of division, Meri Sargsyan, his press secretary,
said that he couldn’t receive us at that moment, we had to come on
Tuesday. Nana Muradyan, Vahe Muradyan’s mother, and Anahit Lazarian
got annoyed, because they couldn’t come every day, since they were not
from the city. Particularly given the fact that we saw that
Harutyunyan was inside, his car was parked outside. At that moment,
Irina Ghazaryan, whose son died in 2010 and the case has been closed,
said with annoyance that `not only have you killed our children, you
have also concealed the cases.’ The other parents also got irritated,
`Why haven’t you at least informed us in three months, we may even
think that it hasn’t happened at all, why do you show such an
attitude?’ At that moment, Yura Badalyan came out of his office and
said insulting us that `who are these people, they have come and shout
at the top of their lungs, it was the right thing to do.’ At that
moment, Irina called him a nonentity, she said that `who are you to
judge whether it was right or wrong, not only have

you killed our sons, you have also cooperated with Shota and concealed
the cases of our sons’ etc….’

Mrs. Sargsyan told that after this incident Yura Badalyan came and
said that `who are these people, get them out of here.’ Bulghadaryan
said that it was enough of curses etc. According to G. Sargsyan, one
of the parents, Nana, asked, `Would you keep silent, if you were us?’

G. Sargsyan said with annoyance during a conversation with us, `One
shouldn’t put mothers who lost their sons under such pressure. Years
have passed and nothing has changed in the cases of our children.’

The mothers who lost their sons have applied to Serzh Sargsyan, the
Ministry of Defense, the Human Rights Defender, the prosecutor and
Tigran Sargsyan in writing. tried to get clarification
during a conversation with Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the press secretary
of the Ministry of Defense what had been done about the application of
the parents. He replied, `If the application was made in accordance
with the respective procedure, it will be considered. If they applied
yesterday, it is not possible that they will get an answer today. One
needs as much time as is necessary for consideration.’

In response to our observation that the use of violence against the
mothers who had lost their sons had become regular and what measures
the Ministry of Defense wished to take, Mr. Hovhannisyan said the
following, `The Ministry of Defense has no direct connection with
that. The prosecutor’s office, investigation and law-enforcement
bodies deal with those issues.’

Tatev HARUTYUNYAN

44-year-old Yerevan man commits suicide

news.am
November 03, 2012 | 13:22

YEREVAN. – Armenian capital city Yerevan resident Artur Hovhannisyan,
44, ended his life by jumping off from the sixth floor of an Arabkir
Administrative Region building where he resided, on Saturday at around
11am, the Police Arabkir Precinct informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

To note, Hovhannisyan was registered at Nubarashen Mental Hospital.

The Police operative team, which was dispatched, is still working at
the scene of the incident.

Hrant Dink’s friend: Ankara is thinking of resisting Armenia’s steps
on threshold of Armenian Genocide centenary

arminfo
Saturday, November 3, 12:41
Turkey is of a better opinion about Armenia’s foreign policy than it
really is, Tiran Lokmagezyan, former employee of Agos newspaper, Hrant
Dink’s friend, said at today’s press conference.

“I am discontent with the foreign policy of Armenia, specifically, the
policy aimed at the international recognition of the Armenian
Genocide. At the moment Turkey is thinking of resisting Armenia’s
large-scale actions on the threshold of the Armenian Genocide
centenary. Meanwhile, Armenia is passive”, he stressed. He said that
Ankara is taking all possible measures to make Yerevan quit the policy
of international recognition of the Armenian Genocide, and Armenia has
the trump card but fails to take any measures.

In this context, Lokmagezyan also pointed out that the Armenian
foreign policy is passive. As regards possible establishment of
relations with Turkey, he said that it will be possible only in case
Armenia gives up the idea of independence of Nagorno-Karabakh.

Israel Diamond Portal
Nov 4 2012

Armenia’s Polished Diamond Exports Fall

Recently published statistics by Armenia’s Economics Ministry reveal
that the country exported significantly fewer polished diamonds in the
first nine months of the calendar year than it did during the same
time period a year previous, Diamond Intelligence reports.

Between January and September 2012, 104,300 carats of polished
diamonds were exported from Armenia, which amounted to a 61.5%
decrease year-over-year. These 104,300 carats brought in $57.8 million
in revenue, a 33% drop from the $85.9 million in revenue that came in
during the first three quarters of 2011.

Armenia’s most important clients for polished diamonds are in Europe,
Russia and United States. Half of the rough diamonds the company
imports are from the Russian state-owned diamond company Alrosa,
Diamond Intelligence reports.

To account for the significant reduction in sales, Armenia’s Economics
Ministry pointed a finger at the meager demand for diamonds at
present, a worldwide phenomenon.

`8&objid=12020

Turkish Warning to NATO and U.S.

– Igor Muradyan
–
– Comments – Thursday, 01 November 2012, 18:25

The war in Iraq in 2003, despite the geopolitical mask, had a blunt
economic nature since Iraq was intended to become a world reservoir of oil
for crisis, necessary for the creation of a controllable thermonuclear
reaction. However, the current situation in Iraq is obviously getting out
of control because the `central government’ in Baghdad is trying to ensure
the country’s sovereignty and it is not clear whether those are pan-Arabic
or Shiite ambitions.

One way or another, the great powers of the West are trying to ensure a
source of oil in the north of Iraq which is controlled by Kurds, is
independent from OPEC, Turkish routes and the Strait of Hormuz in case
South Iraq where the majority of Iraq’s oil reserves are located gets out
of their control. This is also related to the game of involving Turkey in a
military conflict with the central government of Iraq in which Iran will be
involved by all means.

Turkey understands very well that it is increasingly being dragged into
local regional conflicts of border and close cross-border importance. It
thus sends signals to NATO and the United States that in this case it will
require their participation in a specific military assistance.

The ongoing events in Syria are used by Turkey to clarify its relations
with NATO and the United States. It is already something `legitimate’ in
the international political discourse that Turkey’s position is an
important factor of crisis in NATO, and the relations between Ankara and
the alliance bring about a lot of issues. Turkey supposed that it will
have to accept certain conditions after the negotiations with the United
States through the year 2012 but apparently they needed to have a more
preferable position. In other words, it is not a matter of the main but
a past stage of confrontation between Turkey and the United States and a
stage of confrontation when agreed actions and matching of interests
were expected.

Most probably, nothing of the kind was in place, and Turkey is involved
in the next `Vietnam’ between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates which it
bewares of since the main goal is to draw the borders in the region,
including the borders of Turkey.

But how is it possible to combine the goals of creating a reserve barrel
of oil of global meaning with the Turkish `Vietnam’? Can the functions
of a `barrel’ wait? In any case, Turkey warns NATO and the United States
that if they have to wage a war, if they are involved directly,
`Vietnam’ will be for everyone.

Will this frighten the Western community? NATO’s participation is
possible if there are relevant arguments and grounds relating to the
statutes of the alliance. Will there be such grounds?

Armenian President signs law on allocating refugees’ apartments as property

news.am
November 03, 2012 | 11:26

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s President Serzh Sargsyan has authorized several
laws that were passed by the National Assembly.

Specifically, he signed Armenia’s laws on Making a Change in Armenia’s
Law on State Tax, and on Making an Amendment to Armenia’s Law on
Allocating to the Refugees as Property Right the Apartments Build for
the Refugees Forcibly Displaced from the Republic of Azerbaijan in
1988-1992, the President’s Press Office informs.

Bell Tolls for Armenians Once Again in Diyarbakir
by Gulisor Akkum

November 4, 2012

Armenian Weekly correspondent Gulisor Akkum reports from Diyarbakir.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (A.W.) – The bell tower of Sourp Giragos Armenian
Church in Diyarbakir was opened today and, after decades of silence,
the bell tolled once again for Armenians.

The Sourp Giragos Church bell (Photo by Khatchig Mouradian)
Acting Patriarch Archbishop Aram Ateshyan, who is originally from
Diyarbakir/Dikranagerd, presided over the opening ceremony, which was
attended by hundreds of Armenians from Turkey and abroad.

The Sourp Giragos Foundation of the Patriarchate began the renovation
of the church in 2009, and the church opened for worship in October
2011. Due to a lack of funding, however, the bell tower was not
rebuilt.

At the opening ceremony of the bell tower, the head of the Sourp
Giragos Foundation, Ergun Ayik, said, `This church was once a
beautiful, living proof of the Armenian population density in this
city. Its architecture stands as testament to how advanced Armenian
civilization was.’

He added, `Our ancestors bequeathed this church to us, yet for known
reason, we weren’t able to claim ownership of this heritage. The
renovation marked the beginning of the process of assuming this
ownership.’

The director of Aras Publishing House, Mgrditch Margosyan, in turn,
recounted how 12 years ago, at a symposium on the protection of
Diyarbakir’s cultural and historical heritage, speakers were only
discussing fortresses and mosques. `When my turn came to speak, I
brought up the issue of the churches. I suppose such messages
eventually rang a bell.’

Indeed, with the moral and financial support of Diyarbakir Mayor Osman
Baydemir, the renovation of the church was completed, and, once more,
after decades of silence, the sound of the church bell was heard in
Diyarbakir side by side with the calls to prayer from the city’s
mosques. (For details on the renovation, click here.)

Built in 1376, Sourp Giragos is the largest Armenian church in the
Middle East. During the Armenian Genocide, the bell tower was
demolished under the pretext that it was higher than the minarets of
the mosques in the city, and the church itself was used as storage
space for confiscated Armenian property. After World War I, Sumerbank
(a state-owned bank) used the church as storage space. (Click here for
a detailed history of the church.)

Translated from Turkish by Khatchig Mouradian.

REVUE DE PRESSE
Stéphanie Chevrier réalise un rêve de jeunesse à la tête de sa maison d’édition

J’ai toujours rêvé de faire ce métier, même sans savoir à quoi cela
correspondait`, avoue Stéphanie Chevrier, 43 ans, fondatrice et
directrice de la maison d’édition Don Quichotte, qui clame son amour
des auteurs, des livres `bien cornés`, avant de retracer son parcours.

C’est par la petite porte qu’elle est entrée chez Carrère en 1993,
après une licence de lettres modernes et de longues vacances en
Amérique du Sud. Elle fait ses premières armes dans la communication.
Elle commence à toucher l’édition du doigt quand Hachette l’engage
quelques années plus tard comme responsable d’édition. Elle rencontre
alors Catherine Breillat, Alexandre Lacroix, Gilbert Sinoué. En 2001,
elle intègre Flammarion. La toute fraîche directrice littéraire,
chargée de développer son département de littérature générale, est
désormais responsable d’un budget et d’une ligne éditoriale. Elle
édite une trentaine d’ouvrages par an. `Ses` auteurs : Paul Moreira,
le Cambodgien Rithy Panh, Richard Bohringer ou Coline Serreau.

DES BIOGRAPHIES DES HISTOIRES VÉCUES

`Si je ne me lance pas maintenant, je ne le ferai jamais`, se dit
alors Stéphanie. Elle quitte Flammarion pour fonder Don Quichotte en
2008. Mais elle n’a ni indemnités ni fortune personnelle à investir.
Hervé de La Martinière, qui souhaite partager l’aventure, prend 100 %
de Don Quichotte qui devient une marque du Seuil. En échange,
Stéphanie Chevrier bénéficie d’une totale liberté éditoriale. En 2009,
elle publie son premier livre : A voix basse, de Charles Aznavour.

Ce qui lui plaît dans ce métier ? `J’aime qu’on me raconte des
histoires`, dit-elle. Elle édite donc des biographies, des
autobiographies et des histoires vécues. Mais `je ne publie pas des
people`, se défend-elle.

Avec Aznavour, `on publie sur le génocide arménien`. Akhénaton ?
`C’est l’histoire des quartiers de Marseille, c’est un auteur qui a
une vision de la société.` Avec le récent livre de Diam’s – en piles à
la Fnac -, `on raconte la célébrité, la dépression, la conversion à
l’islam d’une jeune femme française, qui assume le fait de se
couvrir`. Car l’engagement constitue l’autre moteur de son activité,
qui s’exprime, par exemple, à travers Un enfant est mort, de Charles
Enderlin. `Ce n’est pas le football qui m’intéresse, ajoute-t-elle,
mais l’enfant d’Ouvéa`, en référence à Christian Karembeu. Kanak
d’Anne Pitoiset et Claudine Wéry.

Et ça marche, comme en témoignent les 15 000 exemplaires de N’oubliez
pas, d’Edwy Plenel, qui lui permet d’éditer ensuite Résistances, de
Stéphane Hessel et Aung San Suu Kyi.

FABRICE LUCHINI Pour exercer son métier comme elle rêvait de le faire,
il faut `être au four et au moulin sur toute la chaîne de production.
Un éditeur accompli est quelqu’un qui sent les sujets, assure la
direction littéraire du texte, surtout dans le cas de nouveaux auteurs
et est responsable de la promo…`.

Le plus difficile ? `Etre sélectif : j’édite parfois un auteur qui ne
sera l’auteur que d’un seul livre`, souligne-t-elle. `Quand on signe
avec un auteur, on part à l’aventure.` Par exemple, cela fait quatre
ans qu’elle envisage de travailler avec Fabrice Luchini : `Quand me
rendras-tu ton texte ?`, lance-t-elle à son adresse.

Des regrets ? `Sur des sujets parfois sensibles, on s’investit` pour,
à l’arrivée, n’être `qu’une ligne dans un budget`, constate-t-elle.
`Une année efface trop souvent l’autre`, regrette-t-elle. Mais la
liberté qu’elle a conquise gomme tout : les angoisses, l’énergie
consacrée à chaque titre, et les regrets.

LE MONDE ECONOMIE | 29.10.2012 à 11h09 – Mis à jour le 29.10.2012 à 16h44

Par Pierre Jullien

dimanche 4 novembre 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com

SYRIE
Crimes crapuleux ou à caractère confessionnel en hausse dans les
régions où l’État est absent

L’extorsion de fonds et les exactions à caractère confessionnel sont
devenues monnaie courante dans le nord syrien où des hommes armés à
l’appartenance politique ou religieuse confuse terrorisent la
population en profitant de la disparition de l’État, selon des
militants et des habitants.

Lundi, un bus venant du Liban a été intercepté et ses passagers
chrétiens pris en otages, près de Saraqeb, dans le nord-ouest du pays.
C’est aussi aux abords de cette ville rebelle que des combattants ont
tué et exécuté de sang froid 28 soldats de l’armée régulière.

« Nous avons passé sans problème des barrages de l’Armée syrienne
libre (ASL, rebelles) dans les régions de Homs et de Hama, mais quand
nous sommes arrivés à Saraqeb, ce fut différent », a raconté un
passager chrétien, disant s’appeler Marc, 26 ans. « D’habitude, les
rebelles recherchent les soldats et les chabbiha (miliciens
prorégime), mais cette fois c’était totalement différent. Trois
hommes, dont deux masqués, sont montés à bord et ont demandé aux
chrétiens de lever la main », a-t-il expliqué. Marc a
vraisemblablement échappé à la mort en étant assis à côté du
chauffeur, les assaillants l’ayant pris pour son adjoint. Neuf
chrétiens, dont sept Arméniens, ont été contraints de descendre tandis
que les assaillants examinaient les cartes d’identité des autres
passagers. « Toi aussi, dehors ! Tu soutiens » Bachar el-Assad,
ont-ils lancé à un Kurde.

Les Kurdes sont accusés d’être des agents du régime et les chrétiens
ont la réputation de pencher en faveur d’Assad.

Un militant des droits de l’homme, qui refuse de révéler son nom,
accuse les islamistes radicaux : « C’est le Front el-Nosra. Il les a
enlevés car ce sont des chrétiens et des Kurdes et que pour lui ces
deux communautés sont hostiles. »

Selon Marc, un groupe d’une trentaine d’insurgés a arrêté un autre
bus, devant le sien, et en ont sorti deux jeunes femmes par les
cheveux. Dans son bus, un des hommes armés a forcé les femmes à
couvrir leurs cheveux avec leur veste en les traitant de prostituées.
« Il a obligé une chrétienne à retirer sa croix pour la piétiner. Une
femme voilée lui a dit : `Mon fils, nous n’agissons pas ainsi en
Syrie. Ce sont nos voisins, ils n’ont rien à faire avec la politique’
», a poursuivi Marc. « Ce sont des infidèles », lui a-t-on rétorqué.

Le lendemain, un des passagers d’une soixantaine d’années a été libéré
après avoir été sévèrement battu. Il a été relché pour tenter
d’obtenir le paiement d’une rançon de 3,3 millions de livres syriennes
(48 000 USD), pour éviter la mort des otages. Les Arméniens tentent de
rassembler la somme, a confié un membre de cette communauté à Alep.

Pour les organisations de défense des droits de l’homme, si
l’extorsion de fonds est en plein essor à cause de la guerre civile,
les crimes confessionnels deviennent courants dans ce pays
majoritairement sunnite mais dirigé par la minorité alaouite du clan
Assad. « Dans les zones ayant échappé au contrôle du régime, c’est le
chaos et le désespoir, car le gouvernement poursuit ses attaques. Dans
une telle atmosphère, il est naturel que se développe l’extrémisme,
qui est le résultat et non la cause de l’inaction de la communauté
internationale », note Abdel Basset Saida, chef du Conseil national
syrien (CNS), principale coalition de l’opposition.

Selon un militant des droits de l’homme, les jihadistes étrangers
pratiquent le « lavage de cerveau » sur certains combattants locaux :
« Ils sont un danger pour la révolution syrienne car ils ne
comprennent pas ce que signifie la démocratie. Ils viennent combattre
les mécréants. » Pour d’autres, si la dimension islamiste existe, elle
ne doit pas être surestimée, notamment lorsqu’elle est liée à des
motifs crapuleux. « Il y a des gens armés qui sont des
révolutionnaires, d’autres qui prétendent être des révolutionnaires
mais qui sont des criminels et aussi des révolutionnaires qui
utilisent des méthodes criminelles », explique un militant d’Alep,
Abou Hicham. « Ils savent que les chrétiens ont de l’argent et qu’ils
paieront », affirme de son côté un autre Alépin de 33 ans, soulignant
que Saraqeb est connue pour ses rapts. « Cela n’a rien à voir avec la
religion, c’est du business », insiste-t-il.

dimanche 4 novembre 2012,
Stéphane ©armenews.com