Author: Hambardsumian Paul

Armenian President: It is immoral to speculate on the subject of Oct 27
terrorist act

2008-02-16 22:04:00

ArmInfo. It is immoral to speculate on the subject of the Oct 27
terrorist act, President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan said in an
interview to local TV channels today.

Some people are even trying to link the act with the nonexistent
"Meghri scenario." One should have very strong imagination for drawing
such parallels. Some of the candidates have shown that they have no
sense of morality and have no inner restraints. They are ready to do
anything to achieve their goals.

The Oct 27 terrorist act was mentioned during the previous presidential
election too. Then I tired to explain the situation.

As you remember, after the terrorist act we formed a new government.
Aram Sargsyan was appointed as prime minister. He was not good for the
post but I decided to do it because we needed to form an atomosphere of
confidence in the country. The ministers of internal affairs and
security were appointed with his consent. He asked to appoint his
friend Boris Nazaryan as prosecutor general.

They asked me to send the case to the military prosecutor office as
they said that they trusted Gagik Jangiryan. Each week the prime
minister met with me and I always asked him if he trusted the
investigators. He said he did.

I also tried to trust them. They were free in their actions. Sometimes
they used illegal methods but I closed my eyes lest anybody might
accuse me of hindering the investigation. It was a very transparent
trial.

So, today, it is simply immoral to speculate on this subject. Even when
part of the case was suspended, they did not even try to dispute that
decision. When they were in power everything was all right. And now
that they are not, it turns out that everything was bad.

It is immoral to speculate on the memory of the people who are the
worthy sons of our nation, Kocharyan said.

ARMENIAN GENERAL PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE MADE A STATEMENT AND WARNED ON CRIMINAL LIABILITY FOR ELECTORAL VIOLATIONS

Mediamax
February 15, 2008

Yerevan /Mediamax/. Armenian General Prosecutor’s Office made a
statement, in which it reminded on criminal liability for violations
of the electoral legislation.

Mediamax reports that the General Prosecutor’s Office stressed that
the following violations are considered criminal offence:

– making obstacles on the way of realization of the electoral right
and work of the electoral commissions;

– falsification of elections, or the results of voting;

– spreading slanderous information about candidates or parties;

– infringement of the order of electors’ lists composition, their
publication or provision of those lists to citizens or parties;

– double-voting, or voting instead of another person;

– preparation and distribution of spurious ballots;

– making obstacles on the way of free will of the citizens;

– non-return of the seal of the electoral commission, violation of
the established order of seal guarding;

– entry to the polling station with arm;

– non-provision of protocol copies of the electoral commissions,
making obstacles on the way of examination of the electoral documents
by the proxies, members of electoral commissions, observers or media
representatives.

General Prosecutor’s Office urged Armenian citizens in case of
revelation of such violations to turn to the law-enforcement bodies
or to the General Prosecutor’s Office by 56-29-45 telephone number.

Public TV, Armenia
Feb 14 2008

Armenian election body releases details on candidates’ campaign
expenditure

[Presenter] The Armenian Central Electoral Commission has started
sending ballot papers to the regions beginning from today. The
Armenian money collecting agency delivers the ballot papers by cars
that mostly carry cash. The ballot boxes used in the 2007
parliamentary election will also be used in the 19 February
presidential election. All the election materials were shown to
journalists at the Central Electoral Commission today and they were
also informed of campaign expenditure by the presidential candidates.

[Correspondent] The presidential election will start in five days.
Election materials were shown at the Central Electoral Commission
today. Examples of the ballot papers and posters of the nine
presidential candidates will be put up on walls in the polling
stations soon.

[Passage omitted: Ara Harutyunyan, head of the audit and inspection
service under the Armenian Central Electoral Commission, shows
election materials and explains how they are being used]

[Correspondent] The Central Electoral Commission has also presented
the latest information on campaign expenditures provided by the
presidential candidates.

[Ara Harutyunyan] The presidential candidates have currently spent
about 190.9m drams [533,240 dollars] of 199.6m [557,541 dollars] of
their funds on campaign adverts.

[Correspondent] These figures apply to eight presidential candidates,
as presidential candidate Arman Melikyan has not added any money to
his fund and has not spent any either. The presidential candidates
have spent over 60 per cent of their funds on campaign adverts. The
election funds have also been financed at the expense of presidential
candidates’ own money, apart from the legal and physical entities.
Presidential candidate [and owner of ALM Holding] Tigran Karapetyan
alone has spent only his own money on campaign adverts.

ARMENIAN HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDER: MECHANISMS OF FALSIFICATION IN ARMENIA ARE MORE IMPROVED

arminfo
2008-02-14 14:34:00

ArmInfo. There was no case in the history of independent Armenia
when the authorities changed via election, Chairman of the ‘Helsinki
Committee of Armenia’ public organization Avetik Ishkhanyan said at
today’s Round Table titled Means of Effective Protection According
RA Election Code’.

"Thus, one may suppose that the people are pleased with the
authorities if they do not change them? However, by the official
data, if the incumbent president received over 50% of votes at the
presidential election, 1996, why his "supporters" did not clamour
against the president resignation in 1998", he said. Having presented
some similar examples more, A. Ishkhanyan said that the mechanisms of
falsifications in Armenia are being improved more and more. "However,
I do not think that the number of such falsifications grow.

Every time, the force at power admits such a number of falsifications
which allow it to hold down the power", A. Ishkhanyan said. Every
time after the election, the winning force confirms the fact of
violations available, promises to eliminate them and improve the
election code. If the promises were fulfilled, a super- improved EC
would exist in Armenia, Ishkhanyan added.

Touching upon the present situation in the republic, A. Ishkhanyan
expressed opinion that it somewhat differs from the previous ones. He
said that a force at power is mainly engaged in falsifications as
it has more opportunities. However, presently, both the authorities
and the forces claiming to be at power have enough experience, and
everyone will try to falsify in his own way, A. Ishkhanyan said.

SKINHEADS ACCUSED OF MURDERING 8 PEOPLE TO STAND TRIAL

PanARMENIAN.Net
14.02.2008 15:32 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Five young skinheads accused of a series of
nationalist assaults in Moscow will stand trial. The prosecutor’s
office said the gang consisted of students of vocational schools aging
16-19. During a search in their homes, investigators found extremist
literature and video materials. The teenagers also visited web sites
to get information how to commit a crime and avoid responsibility.

Armed with axes, hammers and knifes, the teens hunted out persons
of non-Slavonic nationality and assaulted them. Five people from
Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia as well as one Russian citizen were
killed from February to April 2007. Two people died immediately. Three
were taken to hospital and survived.

The gang members are accused of incitement of national hatred,
abasement of human dignity and violence.

The case was brought before the court today, ITAR-TASS reports.

The New York Times
February 15, 2008 Friday
Late Edition – Final

Sometimes Those Magicians of Song Need to Show What’s Up Their
Sleeves

By STEVE SMITH

Magicians are generally ill advised to reveal their tricks, but when
the conductor Kent Tritle let the audience in on a few crafty secrets
during a concert by the Choir of St. Ignatius Loyola on Wednesday
night, the tactic paid off. The major work on the program, presented
at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola as part of its Sacred Music in a
Sacred Space series, was the Concerto for Choir by Alfred Schnittke.
Mr. Tritle and his choir performed the piece here in 2005; this time
it was being recorded for a CD.

The concerto, a 1985 setting of texts from the ”Book of
Lamentations” by the 10th-century Armenian monk St. Gregory of
Narek, is one of Schnittke’s most sublime and mysterious creations.
In place of his usual stylistic juxtapositions and brittle humor, he
drew here on Russian liturgical music.

To the spare a cappella textures and solemn pace of ancient
tradition, Schnittke added a patina of generally mild dissonance.
Some passages acquire an almost heartbreaking luminescence, others a
terrifying edge. Ghostly voices seem to hover in the thickened air
during climaxes.

Before performing the work Mr. Tritle had his singers demonstrate the
methods Schnittke used to create his special effects: a juxtaposition
of similar melodies in slightly different rhythms to create a shimmer
in the first movement, spreading the syllables of words among
multiple singers to fashion a bell-like pulsation in the second.

As it happened, understanding how Schnittke’s effects were created
did not undercut a sense of awe inspired by the intense emotions they
conjured. In the actual performance the singers did themselves proud,
delivering a deeply heartfelt account with polished tone and
excellent diction.

Another elucidating gesture at the beginning of the concert had the
choir deployed around front and side aisles to clarify musical
strands in the dense, intricate 40-voice motet ”Ecce Beatam Lucem”
by the 16th-century Italian composer Alessandro Striggio.

The choir sang passionately in Alberto Ginastera’s ”Lamentations of
Jeremiah,” a substantial, moving work composed in 1946 during
Ginastera’s exile to the United States after Juan Peron had assumed
power in Argentina. But here climaxes were shrill, and finer points
of diction were lost to the resonant acoustic.

Sacred Music in a Sacred Space will present a recital by the organist
Stephen Hamilton on Feb. 24 at the Church of St. Ignatius Loyola;
(212) 228-2520, smssconcerts.org.

NO CANDIDATE FOR ARMENIAN PRESIDENCY QUITS THE RACE

Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS Presidential Bulletin
February 11, 2008
Russia

All nine candidates for the Armenian presidency will continue
running in the electoral race, head of the Armenian Central Elections
Commission (CEC) Garegin Azarian told a news conference in Yerevan
late last week.

None of the candidates disqualified themselves by the deadline
stipulated by the Electoral Code and none sent a relevant application
to the CEC. The deadline was 6 p.m. local time on February 9, he said.

Press secretary of the Armenian CEC Tatev Oganian told Interfax that
the form of ballots was approved at a CEC meeting. The candidates
are sorted by name on the ballot.

The first on the list is leader of the Orinats Yerkir party Artur
Bagdasarian, National Unity party leader Artashes Gegamian, People’s
Party leader Tigran Karapetian, National Accord party leader Aram
Arutyunian, National Assembly Deputy Speaker and member of the
Dashnaktsutiun party bureau Vaan Ovannisian, former Prime Minister and
leader of the opposition National Democratic Union Vazgen Manukian,
and former advisor to the president of Nagorno-Karabakh Armen
Melikian,,Prime Minister and Republican Party leader Serzh Sargsyan,
and former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosian.

A ballot lacks an ‘against all’ entry, Oganian said. A Yerevan
publishing house will begin printing electoral ballots on Sunday. All
2.39 million ballots will be printed by February 16.

Meanwhile, commenting on the situation that a candidate has filed
a claim at the Supreme Court demanding to postpone the day of the
elections, Azarian said that if the Supreme Court rules to postpone
the day of the elections, the process of printing ballots will be
suspended.

REP. RON KLEIN TO ADDRESS ARMENIAN ASSEMBLY MEMBERS AT ANNUAL MEMBER MEETING IN FLORIDA

armradio.am
12.02.2008 10:51

The Armenian Assembly of America will welcome Congressman Ron Klein
(D-FL) as a special guest speaker at its Annual Member Meeting on
February 23rd in Boynton Beach, Florida.

Klein, who represents Florida’s 22nd Congressional District, was one
of 27 Members who voted in favor of the Armenian Genocide Resolution
(H. Res. 106) which passed in the House Foreign Affairs Committee
last October.

"As a student of history, I feel a solemn responsibility to fight for
memory of those who perished in the Armenian Genocide. Only once we
face the atrocities of humanity can we prevent tragedies like this
from occurring again," Klein said. "I look forward to working with
the members of the Armenian Assembly to advance the cause of justice."

"We commend Congressman Klein for his strong stand in support of the
truth and look forward to his remarks at our Annual Member Meeting,"
said Executive Director Bryan Ardouny.

As a Member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Klein sits on
the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere and the Subcommittee on
Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. He was also recently appointed
to serve as Vice Chair of the Middle East Subcommittee. Klein is
also a Member of the Financial Services Committee, where he serves
on the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee,
Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises Subcommittee, and the
Oversight Committee.

The Annual Member Meeting will provide a forum for members to come
together to review the activities and goals of the Assembly.

"SCADA" SYSTEM TO BE INSTALLED IN 220-KILOVOLT SUBSTATIONS AND GENERATING STATIONS OF ARMENIA

Noyan Tapan
Feb 11, 2008

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 11, NOYAN TAPAN. ABB company (Sweden) and Eltel
Networks (Finland) will install Scada system in 14 22-kilovolt
substations and 12 generating stations of Armenia within two years. The
agreement on it was signed on February 11.

The RA deputy minister of energy Ara Simonian said that under the
credit agreement "Electricity Transmission and Distribution Systems"
signed between the Armenian government and the Japan Bank for
International Cooperation (JBIC), about 55 million dollars has been
provided for installation of Scada system and repairs of 110-kilovolt
substations.

According to him, as a result of Scada’s installation, all substations
and stations of Armenia will be connected to the Central Control
Center by high-frequency channels and a 420-km fiber-optic cable
put in the rope of high-voltage transmission lines. Thanks to it,
data from stations and substations will be transferred to the Central
Control Center through high-frequency channels at high speed and with
great accuracy.

EDITORS DISCUSS PRINT MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN

armradio.am
11.02.2008 17:17

Editor-in-chief of "Yerkir" weekly Spartak Seyranyan stated in Yerevan
today that "many of the Armenian newspapers replicate hatred."

Speaking at a news conference devoted to the coverage of the
pre-election campaign by print media, Spartak Seyranyan stated that
the newspapers "often publish accusations the candidates pour on
each other, taken out from the context, forgetting that after the
elections life will continue."

Seyranyan noted that newspapers try to satisfy the demands of the
society, which, unfortunately, prefers gutter press and disdains from
elite journalism."

The editor-in-chief of "Azg" newspaper Hakob Avetikyan expressed his
disagreement to such assessment of public preferences. According to
him, "main part of the readers is a serious and thinking segment of
the society."

Hakob Avetikyan stated that, according to preliminary calculations,
the number of such readers makes about 120 thousand people, "and this
is not a small number for Armenia."

Editor-in-chief of "Azg" newspaper expressed the opinion that in the
process of the pre-election campaign people prefer print media rather
than TV Channels. In this context, one can say with confidence that
the print press plays the most influential role and this should not
be neglected, Hakob Avetikyan stated.

The editors also noted that the pre-election staffs of the candidates
are reluctant to cooperate with the newspapers, preferring TV, and
in such cases it is difficult to secure pluralism of opinions.