Author: Baghdasarian Karlen

Ombudsman of Armenia: Prisoners have to sleep in turn due to prison overcrowding
by Karina Manukyan

ARMINFO
Thursday, July 4, 18:33

Armenian Human Rights Defender has once again raised the problem of
poor conditions in Armenia’s penitentiaries.

During today’s press conference, Human Rights Defender (Ombudsman)
Karen Andreasyan said that the prison overcrowding is still an
unresolved problem. For instance, in Nubarashen penitentiary there
were 17 prisoners in a ward of 25 sq m, and the number of beds was
10-12. So, the prisoners have to sleep in turn. Similar overcrowding
was registered in Vardeshan penitentiary, wherein there were 6 people
in a ward of 12 sq m.

The Ombudsman qualified the general conditions in penitentiaries as
unsatisfactory. For instance, in Nubarashen penitentiary most of the
wards are damp, and the conditions are unhygienic. The toilet
facilities should be repaired urgently.

The Ombudsman also expressed his concern over the conditions in the
isolation wards in Yerevan and the provinces of Armenia. The
conditions are extremely unsatisfactory and unhygienic (e.g. in
Vardashen and Erebouni penitentiaries). Arrestees with health problems
face such unfavorable conditions, and they are even provided with no
medical assistance (e.g. in Vanadzor penitentiary).

Andreasyan said that he paid a visit to Nubarashen penitentiary with
the UK Ambassador to Armenia Katherine Leach. He added that one of the
life prisoners said that it cannot go on this way, and this concerns
not only the poor conditions in prisons, but also the indifference of
the public and some political forces to the fate of the prisoners. In
the meantime, Andreasyan pointed out some progress in the penitentiary
system of Armenia as compared with that in other CIS countries.

As regards the obstacles in the way of settlement of these problems,
the Ombudsman pointed at the limited budget funds, corruption and the
laws of the underworld, which are the survival of the Soviet times.
“The fact that, unlike other countries, in Armenia prisoners complain
of the bad judiciary system rather than the administration of prisons
is amazing”, he said.

From: Baghdasarian

YEREVAN PRESS CLUB WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

JUNE 28 – JULY 4, 2013

HIGHLIGHTS:

MARGARITA KHACHATRIAN VERSUS “HRAPARAK”: COURT OF CASSATION RULES IN FAVOR
OF NEWSPAPER

HEARINGS ON SUIT OF FOI CENTER AGAINST RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STARTED

INTERNEWS REBRANDS AND TURNS INTO MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER

“CHORRORD INKNISHKHANUTIUN” NEWSPAPER GOES BACK TO ITS OLD NAME

MARGARITA KHACHATRIAN VERSUS “HRAPARAK”: COURT OF CASSATION RULES IN FAVOR
OF NEWSPAPER

On July 4, RA Court of Cassation ruled on the dispute between Margarita
Khachatrian, Chairwoman of “Zinvor” (“Soldier”) Association of NGOs, and
“Hraparak” daily founder, “Hraparak Oratert” LLC. Hraparak.am, the
newspaper’s website, reported about this
on the same day. As we have informed, Margarita Khachatrian had contested at
court the piece about her visit to one of the military units. The piece was
published in “Hraparak” on April 21, 2011. The Head of “Zinvor” demanded
refutation, moral damage for libel and insult in the amount of 2 million AMD
(about $ 5,400) and the court costs. Later, Margarita Khachatrian dropped
the financial claims towards “Hraparak” founder, demanding only refutation.
On July 30, 2012, the Court of General Jurisdiction of Kentron and
Nork-Marash Administrative Districts of Yerevan dismissed the lawsuit.
Margarita Khachatrian appealed this ruling. On November 23, 2012, RA Civil
Court of Appeals stroke down the ruling of Court of General Jurisdiction,
obliged “Hraparak” to publish a refutation, and bound its founder to
compensate the court costs of Margarita Khachatrian in the amount of 14,000
AMD (see YPC Weekly Newsletter, November 23-29, 2012
).

On December 21, 2012, the founder of “Hraparak” contested the ruling of the
second instance court at the Court of Cassation, which submitted the
complaint into consideration on February 21, 2013, and examined it on July
4. The Court of Cassation abolished the ruling of the Civil Court of
Appeals, thus sustaining the July 30, 2012 decision of the Court of General
Jurisdiction, which had dismissed the suit of Margarita Khachatrian.

HEARINGS ON SUIT OF FOI CENTER AGAINST RA NATIONAL ASSEMBLY STARTED

On July 3, RA Administrative Court started hearing the suit of Freedom of
Information Center (FOI Center) versus the National Assembly of Armenia.

As we have reported, on November 22, 2012, the FOI Center sent an inquiry to
the National Assembly, asking to inform whether the NA Chairman’s decrees
are placed on the parliament’s website, , and to provide
the copies of the decrees, adopted in the first 6 months of 2012. Since the
NGO did not receive a reply, it re-sent its inquiry on December 5, 2012. In
its email, sent on the same day, the NA informed that it needed additional
time for answering the request, thus it would provide the information in 30
days. Meanwhile, the NA submitted the information only on March 4, 2013,
i.e., three months later. Moreover, the information was not full: according
to the FOI Center, copies of twelve decrees of the NA Speaker were missing.
On March 7, the FOI Center made another request to the parliament demanding
the copies of the missing documents. In its March 18 reply, the National
Assembly stated that the documents cannot be provided since they contain
personal data about the employees. At the same time, the parliament did not
justify sufficiently its refusal. On April 22, the Administrative Court
submitted into consideration the suit of FOI Center versus the National
Assembly. The plaintiff demanded the Court to hold that its right to receive
information was violated and to oblige the parliament to provide the
requested 12 copies of the NA Chairman’s decree (see YPC Weekly Newsletter,
April 12-18, 2013 ).

At the July 3 hearings, the Court demanded from the respondent the copies of
the twelve decrees (without the confidential personal data) for its
consideration.

The next court session will take place on August 7.

INTERNEWS REBRANDS AND TURNS INTO MEDIA INITIATIVES CENTER

On July 3, Internews Media Support public organization registered its new
name and logo. From now on Internews will be known as Media Initiatives
Center (MIC). According to Nouneh Sarkissian, the Managing Director of the
MIC (once called Internews), the renaming signifies a new stage in the
development and self-identification of the NGO, but it does not mean that
the values and mission of Internews will change. The Media Initiatives
Center will continue to cooperate with all its partners, including the
Internews offices in various countries. The email addresses and the website
of the organization will remain the same until the rebranding process is
over.

It is to be noted that the Media Initiatives Center (once known as
Internews) operates in Armenia since December 1996. The Internews Media
Support public organization was registered in February 1998. The mission of
the NGO is to contribute to the development and dissemination of free,
independent and pluralistic information through applying creative and
innovative approaches, thus assisting in the establishment of democratic
values, diverse and harmonious development of the society.

“CHORRORD INKNISHKHANUTIUN” NEWSPAPER GOES BACK TO ITS OLD NAME

Starting from July 2, “Chorrord Inknishkhanutiun” (“Fourth Self-Power”) is
being published under its old name, “Chorrord Ishkhanutiun” (“Fourth
Power”). The newspaper has also changed its founder – “West Pole” LLC, and
has increased in price – 200 AMD against the former 100 AMD.

As we have reported, on October 19, 2009, the Court of General Jurisdiction
of Kentron and Nork-Marash Administrative Districts of Yerevan banned the
publication of “Chorrord Ishkhanutiun” due to the lawsuit of “Gind” printing
house filed versus the newspaper’s founder, “Ogostos” LLC. The Court ruled
to uphold the ban before the paper’s founder’s liabilities for printing
costs are covered. Some journalistic and human rights organizations,
including Yerevan Press Club, assessed this ban as a violation of the right
to free dissemination of information and called to fix the problems, which
were purely financial. Meanwhile, since November 10, 2009, the newspaper was
being issued under the title of “Chorrord Inknishkhanutiun” and with a new
founder – “Trespassers W.” LLC (see details in 2009 Yerevan Press Club
Report “On Freedom of Speech in
Armenia”).

When reprinting or using the information above, reference to the Yerevan
Press Club is required.
You are welcome to send any comment and feedback about the Newsletter to:
[email protected]

Subscription for the Newsletter is free. To subscribe or unsubscribe from
this mailing list, please send a message to: [email protected]

Editor of YPC Newsletter – Elina POGHOSBEKIAN
____________________________________________
Yerevan Press Club
9B, Ghazar Parpetsi str.
0002, Yerevan, Armenia
Tel.: (+ 374 10) 53 00 67; 53 35 41; 53 76 62
Fax: (+374 10) 53 56 61
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site:

From: Baghdasarian

AZERBAIJANI REGULAR ORDER FAILED AT YEREVAN PAN-EUROPEAN CONFERENCE

16:27, 4 July, 2013

YEREVAN, JULY 4, ARMENPRESS: The Azerbaijan’s regular order failed
during the Pan-European Conference “The European Standards of Rule of
Law and the Scope of Discretion of Powers in the Member States of the
Council of Europe” held at the National Assembly of the Republic of
Armenia. This was stated to Armenpress by the deputy of the Republican
Party of Armenia faction of the National Assembly Davit Harutyunyan,
touching upon the report of the Parliamentary Advocate of the Republic
of Moldova Aurelia Grigoriu “The protection of human rights and
security in “frozen conflicts” areas”. “It is obvious that it is
the regular order of the Azerbaijani side. We are familiar to the
content of many similar texts. We know them by heart”, – emphasized
Davit Harutyunyan.

During her report “The protection of human rights and security in
“frozen conflicts” areas”, the Parliamentary Advocate of the Republic
of Moldova Aurelia Grigoriu made a statement, which does not have any
connection to the reality. She announced that “Armenia occupied 20%
of the Azerbaijan’s territory and the Khojalu Genocide was implemented
by the Armenians”. The Parliamentary Advocate of the Republic of
Moldova called Armenia “an aggressor country”.

The Vice President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia
Hermine Naghdalyan appealed not to use the Pan-European Conference
and the platform of the National Assembly of Armenia for spreading
false information.

Aurelia Grigoriu tried to justify herself, saying that with her
speech she wanted to note that all the conflicts should be settled
in peaceful way.

The Lithuanian Ombudsman in his turn suggested the Moldovan
representative to speak “on the Moldova’s frozen conflict and not
touch upon the history of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict”.

In the framework of the Armenia’s chairmanship at the Committee
of Ministers of the European Council, the Pan-European Conference
“The European Standards of Rule of Law and the Scope of Discretion of
Powers in the Member States of the Council of Europe” was held on July
3-4 at the National Assembly. The Conference was attended by about
80 representatives from 32 countries and international organizations.

From: Baghdasarian

LAWYER OF ARMEN CHAKHALIAN FILES APPEAL AGAINST COURT DECISION

Thursday,
July 04

Armen Chakhlian’s lawyer has filed an appeal against the court decision
to arrest Chakhalian for two months, Armen Chakhalian’s brother,
Vahagn Chakhalian, told Aysor.am.

In his words, there are numerous gaps in the charge brought against
his brother.

“Of the 150 people involved in the scuffle, only one man said that he
saw him on the scene of the incident. And none of the victims said that
Armen had beaten them. According to them, they saw Armen lying on the
ground, but the prosecutor wrote that Armen had participated in the
scuffle, based on which the court made a decision about a two-month
preliminary arrest,” V. Chakhalian said. He noted that if there is
any justice in Georgia, his brother will be released immediately.

Vahagn Chakhalian told Aysor.am earlier that he links his brother’s
arrest with his own political activities.

“My brother went to settle a quarrel, but he was detained based
on evidence of one man. We were informed that he was beaten up in
the police car. My brother was charged with hooliganism,” Vahagn
Chakhalian noted.

We would remind you that Georgian law enforcers detained Armen –
the brother of activist Vahagn Chakhalian – due to his participation
in the unrest in Ninotsminda. He was charged with organizing unrest
in Ninotsminda.

TODAY, 15:58

Aysor.am

From: Baghdasarian

ARMENIAN IT EXPERT CALLS FOR RAISING POPULATION’S INTERNET LITERACY

15:30 ~U 03.07.13

An Armenian IT security expert says internet literacy appears to be
a major problem in terms of sharing sensitive information on social
networking sites.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Samvel Martirosyan stressed the
importance of raising the internet users’ literacy level to educate
them on the consequences of sharing information containing a state
secret.

“The question here is whether it isn’t important for those knowing the
secrets to receive a proper training. Social networks are now better
tools than public opinion surveys, with over half a million Armenians
being active on Facebook every day. Half of Armenia’s population is
represented on the social networks, bearing open information,” he said.

The expert noted that the Russian Odnoklassniki is of special concern,
with users leaving posts not being often the ones who they appear to
be. He said it would be important to keep the personal profiles and
passwords of Defense Ministry employees under superiors’ control to
avoid risks.

Tigran Kocharyan, a blogger also attending the news conference, said
the situation in the social networking site used to be even worse. He
remembered that they had once found a group of spies at the Vazgen
Sargsyan military academy.

“Many are not educated at all. It is important to inform them – in
the final years of school – of the hazards open information may pose,”
he said.

As for officials’ activeness in the social networks, Kocharyan admitted
that there are real problems here too. “Any kind of information can
be used, including the ‘likes’ of an official,” he said, stressing
the importance of giving more attention to the problem.

Armenian News – Tert.am

From: Baghdasarian

PRIORITIES OF THE ARMENIAN CHAIRMANSHIP BASED ON THREE PILLARS OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE

14:29 03.07.2013

Council of Europe, Edward Nalbandian

“Presidency of the Committee of Ministers is a challenge to any
member country of the Council of Europe, as the European Continent
faces a number of problems today, which can create difficulties in
the protection of our fundamental values,” Armenian Foreign Minister,
Chairman of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe Edward
Nalbandian said at the pan-European conference on “European standards
of the rule of law and limits of the authorities’ discretion in the
member states of the Council of Europe.”

The Minister added that the chairmanship is also a great
responsibility, as the success of the organization depends not only
on the efforts of every member of the Council of Europe, but also a
proper guidance of those efforts.

“The priorities of the Armenian chairmanship of the CoE Committee
of Ministers are based on three pillars of the organization with
special emphasis on most urgent issues of the time, which require
adequate reaction. Among them I would note the fight against racism and
xenophobia, promotion of inter-cultural and inter-religious dialogue,
reinforcement of the European standards of human rights and rule of
law, encouragement of democratic societies,” Minister Nalbandian said.

“The Armenian chairmanship attaches great importance to all the
efforts targeted at raising the effectiveness of the European Court
of Human Rights, implementation of reforms in the Council of Europe,
reinforcement of the organization’s role in the general European
architecture, development of dialogue with partner organizations and
neighboring regions,” Edward Nalbandian said.

From: Baghdasarian

ANTI-ARMENIAN POLITICIAN REELECTED TURKISH PARLIAMENT LEADER

July 03, 2013 | 13:43

By Artur Hakobyan

ANKARA. – Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) member
Cemil Cicek was reelected Grand National Assembly (parliament) Speaker.

But it was solely during the third-round of voting that Cicek was
reelected to this post, Hurriyet daily of Turkey reports.

To note, Cemil Cicek is known for his anti-Armenian stance. He
was Turkey’s justice minister when a lawsuit was filed against
Hrant Dink-the founder and chief editor of Istanbul’s Agos Armenian
bilingual weekly, who was gunned down in 2007 in front of his office
building-under the Turkish Criminal Code’s infamous Article 301,
that is, for explicitly insulting the Turkish identity.

Also, Cicek had expressed his fear of the Armenians in 2009. As a
result of the local government elections in that year, a Kurd was
elected mayor of Igdir city-which borders Armenia-for the first time
after the rule of Azerbaijani mayors in this city for 85 consecutive
years. In this respect, Cemil Cicek had said: “The Kurds have
established at the border with Armenia.”

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian

ZARUHI POSTANJYAN: “THE PROSECUTOR IN CYPRUS JUST DOCUMENTED THAT THE PRIME MINISTER IS HIDING THE TRUTH”

()
11:35 | July 2 2013

Today, in a conversation with Aravot.am, the Secretary of “Heritage”
faction Zaruhi Postanjyan assured that the statement of the Prosecutor
of Cyprus  is not news, because everything regarding the Prime
Minister’s offshore scandal is already clear.

It’s worth to mention that the Cyprus Attorney General has told the
“Liberty” r/s that it is impossible to be a shareholder of an offshore
company in their  country without the knowledge of given person or
a permission of the authorized representative. In this way he had
denied the Prime Minister’s explanation  that he had nothing to do
withthis company, and that similar companies can be registered in
the name of Nicole Pashinyan without his knowledge.

According to Zaruhi Postanjyan, “Everything was clear from the words
of the Prime Minister at the Parliament that he was not telling the
truth. We did not learn it from the prosecutor of Cyprus, unlike our
prosecutors, he performed his duty and presented the requirement
of acting law without having interest to defend or support Tigran
Sargsyan.”

To our questions that Serzh Sargsyan during his recent meeting
rebuked the Attorney General, should we also keep in mind that
under these remarks the Prime Minister and Kchoyan have immunity
and we the so-called “have nothing to do”, Zaruhi Postanjyan
replied,-. “What happened at Serzh Sargsyan’s office, which was
called as a discussion of effective management of budget resources,
strengthen supervision over the implementation of government programs
and reducing the risks of corruption, was a poor performance of the
main role-player. Generally, if there is a discussion that nearly
two dozen people participate,

at least ten of them should be able to express an opinion, and if
the two dozen are top-ranking government officials, a country, which
as a corrupted country, is in the “best” disgraceful five among 47
EU countries, the discussions about corruption could not possibly
implemented in the form of listening to a monologue.”

I’ve been a lawyer for 9 years, as a lawyer I have some experience
in contact with the criminal world. When I watched this so-called
“discussions”, I got the impression that a group of people of
the criminal world gathered and the most influential of them, the
leader of the group, is making an attempt to say a word that will
resemble the word of mafia godfather. The leader of the group was
settling scores from one member of his subordinated group, trying
to make it clear for both those present and others, trying to remind
that I am the decision-maker here, I know who represents what here,
and generally I am informed about everything. In other words, Serzh
Sargsyan made it clear that each of those present are his subordinates,
I have respective discrediting evidence against you and generally
I am the decision maker. If I wish I will tell the prosecutor to
start the process, I will not wish, I will not start. At this moment,
my assignment refers not to the embezzlement of 700 billion, but get
involved with a light, small-sized embezzlements and small officials,
nothing more. It is not allowed to mane independent statement and
discussions about the quantity of embezzlement by the state officials,
size of abuses and volume of allegations. The quantity, size and volume
should be specified with Serzh Sargsyan, and besides, execution of
all future activities. I got such impression from that meeting.

Hripsimeh JEBEJYAN

From: Baghdasarian

EU ADOPTS Â~B¬10 MILLION PROGRAM TO SUPPORT SMALL BUSINESS IN EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COURTIERS

July 03, 2013 | 02:04

The European Commission has adopted a â~B¬10 million program to
support Small and Medium Sized enterprises and trade opportunities
in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries.

“Our Eastern neighbors have been hit hard by the economic crisis.

Small and medium sized enterprises can play a key role in generating
jobs and economic growth because they respond quickly to opportunities
created by the market. It is therefore our crucial task to support
small businesses in the Eastern Partnership region,” press release
quoted EU Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Å tefan
Fule as saying.

The new program covers support to partner countries’ institutions to
put in place and implement policy and legislative reforms in support
of small and medium sized enterprises; extension of the East-Invest
project, which supports Business Support organizations in the Eastern
Partnership countries and promotes trade opportunities between European
and Eastern Partnership companies; strengthening auditing and reporting
capacity of small and medium sized enterprises to improve their access
to financing in the Eastern Partnership countries.

Eastern Partnership includes Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia,
Moldova and Ukraine.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

From: Baghdasarian

GARO GHAZARIAN ELECTED VICE-CHAIR OF GLENDALE CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION

Tuesday, July 3rd, 2012

Garo Ghazarian

GLENDALE-Garo Ghazarian, Esq. is the Chairman of the Board of Governors
of the Armenian Bar Association, which boasts members throughout the
United States, Canada, Armenia, Europe, South America, Asia and beyond,
reported the Armenian Bar Association.

Just seven months after being unanimously appointed by the City Council
of Glendale to the City’s Civil Service Commission, Commissioner
Ghazarian was nominated to the position of Vice-Chair of the Commission
by Commissioner John Gantus, a two-time former Chair and a 12-year
member of the Commission. On June 27, 2012, Mr.

Ghazarian was unanimously elected by his fellow Commissioners and
assumed his post as Vice-Chair of the Commission. Also on June 27th,
Art Devine, the incumbent Chair of the Commission was nominated by
Commissioner Ghazarian to serve another term as Chair. Chair Devine
was also confirmed by a unanimous vote of the Commissioners.

In addition to his nationwide criminal defense law practice, Ghazarian
is also the Dean and a professor of law at Peoples College of Law in
Los Angeles. Ghazarian has lectured extensively to law enforcement
agencies and is a former guest instructor at the FBI Academy in
Quantico, Virginia. He is a board member of the Mexican American Bar
Association – Political Action Committee, and serves on its Judicial
Evaluations Committee. He also is a board member of The Armenian Center
for National and International Studies, a research and educational
institute which promotes the rule of law and civil and human rights
in the Republic of Armenia.

From: Baghdasarian