Author: Hambardsumian Paul

                                        Thursday, 
Head Of Armenian Judicial Watchdog Prosecuted
Armenia -- Ruben Vartazarian, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, holds a news 
conference in Yerevan, September 4, 2019.
Law-enforcement authorities have launched criminal proceedings against the head 
of a state body overseeing Armenia’s judiciary more than one month after he was 
strongly criticized by pro-government lawmakers.
The Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) said on Thursday Prosecutor-General Artur 
Davtian has notified it about the opening of a criminal case against its 
chairman, Ruben Vartazarian. In a statement, it said Vartazarian was therefore 
suspended as head of the SJC and a Yerevan district court judge pending 
investigation.
Neither the SJC nor Davtian’s office gave any details of the investigation. They 
said only that the criminal proceedings are not connected with the performance 
of Vartazarian’s duties.
Vartazarian made no public statements on the development. Some media outlets 
reported that he was summoned to the Special Investigative Service (SIS) for 
questioning later on Thursday. The law-enforcement agency did not confirm or 
deny this as of 10 p.m. local time.
Vartazarian faced a barrage of harsh criticism from lawmakers representing Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc during a question-and-answer session in 
the Armenian parliament in early March.
They accused him of effectively siding with opposition groups trying to topple 
Pashinian. They pointed to a November 15 statement in which Vartazarian urged 
judges to prove that they are “honest professionals,” rather than “judges 
whimpering under walls.”
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visits his supporters blocking the 
entrance to a court in Yerevan, May 20, 2019
Pashinian lambasted unnamed “whimpering” judges in 2019 when he accused the 
Armenian judiciary of maintaining ties with the country’s former leadership.
The My Step deputies charged that with his controversial statement Vartazarian 
encouraged courts to hand down anti-government rulings. The SJC chairman flatly 
denied that.
In recent months, Armenian judges have refused to allow law-enforcement 
authorities to arrest dozens of opposition leaders and members as well as other 
anti-government activists. Virtually all of those individuals are prosecuted in 
connection with street protests sparked by the Pashinian administration’s 
handling of the autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
Pashinian claimed in December that Armenia’s judicial system has become part of 
a “pseudo-elite” which is trying to topple him after the disastrous war. 
Vartazarian rejected the criticism.
Armenia -- Gagik Jahangirian (R) attends a session of the Armenian parliament, 
January 22, 2021.
Vartazarian has headed the SJC for almost two years. The body empowered to 
nominate, sanction and fire Armenian judges will be run by its oldest member, 
Gagik Jahangirian, at least until the end of the inquiry.
The parliament controlled by the ruling bloc elected Jahangirian and another 
lawyer to the SJC in January. Critics of the Armenia government say that 
Pashinian expects them to help increase his influence on courts.
Jahangirian criticized Pashinian’s political team for not “purging” the 
judiciary when he spoke in the parliament in January. He called for “getting rid 
of judges who committed blatant human rights violations.”
Jahangirian himself was accused of serious human rights abuses when he served as 
Armenia’s chief military prosecutor from 1997-2006. He has always denied the 
allegations voiced by civic activists.
Armenians In No Rush To Get COVID-19 Vaccine
        • Satenik Hayrapetian
GEORGIA -- A health worker holds a vial of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at 
the Infectious Diseases, AIFS and Clinical Immunology Research Center in 
Tbilisi, March 15, 2021
Only 60 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 during the first two days of the 
Armenian government’s first major inoculation program launched earlier this 
week, health authorities said on Thursday.
The vaccinations targeting only frontline workers, seniors and people suffering 
from chronic illnesses began in Yerevan on Tuesday and other parts of Armenia 
the following day.
The authorities are currently using 24,000 doses of the British-Swedish company 
AstraZeneca’s vaccine which were delivered to the country on March 28. Only 
people aged 55 and older are eligible for the vaccine jab because of lingering 
questions about its safety.
Younger people deemed most at risk from the coronavirus will be offered the 
Russian Sputnik V vaccine later this month. Armenia received 15,000 doses of the 
jab on April 8.
Health officials acknowledged that even vulnerable Armenians are in no rush to 
take free vaccines despite a high rate of coronavirus infections.
Yerevan’s Policlinic No. 13 administered its first vaccine shot on Thursday. Its 
director, Ruzan Durgarian, said policlinic staff are now busy phoning residents 
of surrounding neighborhoods eligible for the first vaccinations and inviting 
them to the medical center. So far, she said, most people have declined the 
invitations.
“Some people say they don’t want to be vaccinated while others say they have 
heard bad things about that or claim they are allergic to vaccines,” explained 
Durgarian.
Many of the elderly and middle-aged people randomly interviewed in the streets 
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that they are ready to be vaccinated.
“I’m afraid [of taking a vaccine,] but both I and my husband have already been 
infected and know what a tough experience it is,” said one woman.
Another woman said she does not trust Armenian health institutions and plans to 
get a Sputnik shot in Russia. “I don’t know what they inject here,” she said.
Another pensioner did not trust the coronavirus vaccines. “I’m afraid of dying,” 
she said.
Armenia -- Medics at the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center in Yerevan, 
Armenia's largest hospital treating COVID-19 patients, June 5, 2020.
Concerns about the AstraZeneca jab’s presumed dangerous side-effects appeared to 
be one of the reasons for the slow pace of vaccinations.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesian again downplayed the risk of a rare blood 
clotting disorder linked to the vaccine when she spoke in the Armenian 
parliament on Thursday.
“Many countries have resumed use [of the AstraZeneca vaccine] but changed age 
thresholds [for its recipients,]” she said, arguing that the Armenian government 
has done the same to minimize the health risk.
Avanesian reiterated that the government’s objective is to have between 600,000 
and 700,000 people vaccinated within a year. She said this will be enough to 
develop herd immunity against COVID-19 in the country of about 3 million.
The Armenian Ministry of Health reported, meanwhile, 1,014 new single-day 
coronavirus cases and the deaths of 30 more people infected with the disease. 
The total number of coronavirus-related deaths thus reached 4,781, according to 
the ministry.
Armenia is currently grappling with a third wave of infections that began in 
late February. Critics blame the resurgence of COVID-19 on the authorities’ 
failure to enforce their physical distancing and sanitary restrictions.
Armenia Could Extend Ban On Imports From Turkey
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia - Commercial trucks parked at the Bagratashen border crossing with 
Georgia, November 29, 2018. (Photo by the State Revenue Committee of Armenia)
The Armenian government may well extend a ban on the import of manufactured 
goods from Turkey which it initiated during last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh, 
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian said on Thursday.
The six-month month ban came into force on December 31. Yerevan described it as 
retaliation for Ankara’s “inflammatory calls,” arms supplies to Azerbaijan and 
“deployment of terrorist mercenaries to the conflict zone.”
Speaking in the Armenian parliament, Grigorian said the government is now 
inclined to extend the measure in June. He clarified that the import ban does 
not apply to Turkish raw materials and parts used by Armenian manufacturers.
Armenia imported (mostly via Georgia) $220 million worth of Turkish-manufactured 
products last year, Grigorian said, adding that local firms can produce or 
import them from China, Russia or other ex-Soviet states. “I think that the 
market will very quickly adapt to this situation,” he told lawmakers.
Turkey has refused to establish diplomatic relations with Armenia and kept the 
border between the two states closed since the early 1990s out of solidarity 
with Azerbaijan. It has also banned all imports from Armenia.
Ankara has yet to clarify whether a final Karabakh settlement acceptable to Baku 
remains a precondition for normalizing Turkish-Armenian relations after the 
six-week war that resulted in the restoration of Azerbaijani control over all 
districts around Karabakh.
Foreign Minister Ara Ayvazian said late last month that the Turks must end their 
“hostile actions against Armenia” if they want to contribute to peace and 
stability in the region.
Ayvazian’s remarks contrasted with a statement on Turkish-Armenian relations 
made by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian earlier in March. The latter said Armenia 
also needs to review its policies towards Turkey as well as Azerbaijan.
“We, the regional countries, must reappraise our mutual attitudes and postures,” 
said Pashinian.
Opposition leaders and other critics of the Armenian government denounced that 
statement as further proof of Pashinian’s desire to continue sacrificing 
Armenia’s national interests.
Armenian President Opposes Heavier Fines For Defamation
Georgia - Armenian President Armen Sarkissian arrives in Tbilisi on an official 
visit, .
President Armen Sarkissian has refused to sign into law a government-backed bill 
that would triple maximum legal fines set for defamation in Armenia, calling it 
a threat to the freedom of speech.
He has also asked the Constitutional Court to rule on the legality of the 
measure condemned by Armenian press freedom groups.
The bill involving amendments to the Armenian Civil Code was drafted by a close 
associate of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, deputy parliament speaker Alen 
Simonian, and passed by the National Assembly late last month.
It stipulates that media outlets and individuals convicted of “slander” could be 
fined as much as 6 million drams ($11,500) while those making offensive claims 
will face a maximum fine of up to 2 million drams.
Later in March, Armenia’s leading media associations asked Sarkissian not to 
endorse the bill and to challenge it in the Constitutional Court instead, saying 
that it could be exploited by government officials and politicians to stifle 
press freedom. The president met with their representatives shortly afterwards.
In a statement released on Thursday, the presidential press office said 
Sarkissian shares their concerns. It said that while Sarkissian regards 
defamation offenses as “unacceptable and condemnable” he believes that the much 
heavier fines “could cause substantial damage to the freedom of speech and 
considerably limit journalists’ freedom and media outlets’ ability to … 
objectively cover the activities of officials and public figures in an 
unconstrained manner.”
The bill also appears to be “contentious in terms of its constitutionality,” the 
statement said, adding that the head of state has appealed to the Constitutional 
Court for that reason.
In what civics groups see as a related development, Armenian prosecutors drafted 
earlier this year legislation that would make defamation of state officials a 
crime punishable by up to two years in prison.
All forms of libel and defamation were decriminalized in Armenia in 2010 during 
the rule of former President Serzh Sarkisian. The move was recommended by the 
Council of Europe.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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