Monday,
Former Security Chief Coy About Pashinian’s ‘Deal Offer’
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Former National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian speaks to
journalists, .
Artur Vanetsian, the former head of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS),
on Monday declined to confirm or deny claims that he had offered former
President Serzh Sarkisian’s fugitive son-in-law a far-reaching deal on behalf of
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Mikael Minasian, who had enjoyed considerable clout during Sarkisian’s
decade-long rule, claimed on May 2 that Pashinian offered to guarantee his and
his father’s immunity from prosecution if he pledges to pay cash and stop
challenging the Armenian government. He said Vanetsian personally communicated
Pashinian’s proposal to him during a February 2019 meeting held in Rome.
Pashinian has refused to comment on Minasian’s allegations, saying that they are
investigated by the Special Investigative Service (SIS). The law-enforcement
agency summoned Vanetsian for questioning on May 7. The latter reportedly
refused to give any testimony.
The SIS tried to question Vanetsian again on Monday. The former NSS chief, who
is now a bitter critic of Pashinian, gave no details of the interrogation when
he spoke to journalists after emerging from the SIS headquarters.
Asked whether what Minasian said is true, he said: “I neither refute it nor
refuse to refute it. I don’t comment.” He argued that he is not allowed to
breach “the secrecy of the investigation.”
Vanetsian claimed late last year that he met with Minasian on the prime
minister’s orders when he ran Armenia’s most powerful security service. He stood
by that statement on Monday but again did not elaborate.
“I can only say one thing: I acted solely within the bounds of my legal powers,”
Vanetsian told RFE/RL’s Armenian as he made his way into the SIS building.
Armenia -- Mikael Minasian.
Minasian, who now lives abroad, made the allegations one week after it emerged
that he was charged with illegal enrichment, false asset disclosure and money
laundering earlier this year. He rejected the accusations as politically
motivated.
Pashinian has repeatedly accused Minasian of illegally making a huge fortune
during Sarkisian’s rule.
A newspaper controlled by the prime minister alleged in January that Minasian
and Vanetsian have joined forces in a bid to topple him. Also, a spokeswoman for
Pashinian claimed late last month that “according to the government’s
information” Vanetsian abused his NSS position to buy Minasian’s minority stake
in Armenia’s largest mining company. Vanetsian strongly denied that.
Vanetsian resigned as NSS director last September after falling out with
Pashinian for still unclear reasons. He officially announced his entry into
politics in February, saying that he is setting up an opposition party for that
purpose.
In recent months, the former security chief has repeatedly accused Pashinian of
incompetence and misrule and called for his resignation.
Opposition Lawmakers Return To ‘Violent’ Parliament
• Gayane Saribekian
Armenia -- Pro-government and opposition deputies brawl on the parliament floor,
Yerevan, May 8, 2020.
The opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK) ended on Monday a two-week boycott of
sessions of the parliament despite accusing its pro-government majority of not
renouncing violent responses to criticism.
LHK lawmakers walked out of the National Assembly on May 8 following a brawl
involving their leader Edmon Marukian and deputies from Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s My Step bloc. One of those deputies, Sasun Mikaelian, punched
Marukian while the latter spoke on the parliament floor in the presence of
Pashinian and government ministers.
Pashinian deplored the violence but blamed it on LHK “provocations.” Marukian’s
party charged in response that he thereby “justified, legitimized and
encouraged” violence against his political opponents. It also demanded
Mikaelian’s resignation.
The ruling bloc responded by saying that Mikaelian will resign from the
parliament only if Marukian quits too.
The brawl prompted a preliminary inquiry by Armenia’s Special Investigative
Service (SIS). The law-enforcement body announced at the weekend that it cannot
indict anyone because neither Marukian nor any other parliamentarian suffered
multiple blows during the May 8 incident. Citing a “precedent-setting” ruling
handed down by the Court of Cassation in 2012, the SIS said that a “single blow
cannot be qualified as a beating.”
Armenia -- Bright Armenia Party leader Edmon Marukian at a news conference in
Yerevan, April 20, 2020.
The LHK rejected this explanation on Monday. It said footage of the incident
clearly shows that its leader was hit not only by Mikaelian but also two other
My Step deputies. In a statement, the opposition party also insisted that the
SIS has enough evidence to bring charges under another article of the Criminal
Code that deals with “hooliganism.”
Marukian said the authorities’ response to the LHK boycott suggests that a
repeat of the May 8 violence may well be possible.
“We have drawn conclusions and will return to work with those conclusions in
mind and in the knowledge that at some point someone could hit us from behind.
We have to be careful and look back and around us,” he told a news conference.
“We are dealing with people who can hit us from behind, people who justify
violence, people who do not tolerate dissent and label it as a provocation,”
claimed the LHK leader.
Alen Simonian, a deputy parliament speaker and senior My Step member, shrugged
off these claims.
“People have seen everything and know who Edmon Marukian is in the political
sense,” said Simonian. “The authorities have condemned violence and never
resorted to it, even when the public demanded it.”
Arrests Spark Protests In Armenian Town
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia -- Kajaran Mayor Manvel Paramazian (L) leads a demonstration outside a
police station in Kapan,
Hundreds of residents of Karajan, a small town in southeastern Armenia, took to
the streets on Sunday to protest against the arrest of four local men linked to
its mayor.
The mayor, Manvel Paramazian, led the daylong protests after condemning the
“unfounded arrests” and claiming that they are part of his “political
persecution” by law-enforcement authorities.
Paramazian’s protesting supporters gathered outside a police station in Kapan,
the nearby capital of the country’s Syunik province, where the arrested men were
held on suspicion of violent assault. Angered by rumors about their
ill-treatment in police custody, the crowd tried to stop the local police from
transferring the suspects to Yerevan.
Syunik Governor Hunan Poghosian addressed it, promising that the criminal
investigation will objective. The protesters refused to disperse, however.
Paramazian added to their fury after being allowed to enter the police station
and see the detainees. He alleged that they were indeed tortured by policemen.
Still, the protesters agreed to unblock the entrance to the police station at
Paramazian’s urging at around midnight. The mayor said local officials assured
him that the probe will be fair and that the men connected to him will not be
subjected to violence.
In a late-night statement, Armenia’s Investigative Committee clarified that the
arrested men are suspected of kidnapping and beating up another Kajaran resident
late last month. It said investigators also found large quantities of marijuana
in a house belonging to one of the suspects.
The statement indicated that Paramazian is also regarded as a suspect in the
case. It said investigators are now trying to “verify” and “ascertain” the
mayor’s possible involvement in the violence.
Paramazian, who has run the industrial town since 2016, confirmed that the
police searched his home last week.
Meanwhile, prosecutors in Yerevan said on Monday that they have instructed
another law-enforcement body, the Special Investigative Service, to investigate
the torture allegations. Also, the national police chief, Aram Sargsian, ordered
an internal inquiry for the same purpose.
A lawyer representing one of the arrested men, Khoren Mirzoyan, told RFE/RL’s
Armenian service that his client did not claim to have been ill-treated by
policemen when they spoke on Sunday. He also said that Mirzoyan denies any
involvement in the alleged violence.
Located about 370 kilometers southeast of Yerevan, Kajaran is home to Armenia’s
largest mining enterprise. The Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) employs
more than 4,000 people. Many of them are Kajaran residents.
According to the Investigative Committee, the four arrested men also work at
ZCMC.
Armenian PM Blames Businesses For Coronavirus Spike
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses the nation on Facebook, May
24, 2020.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian held businesses reopened by his government over
the past month primarily responsible for the accelerating spread of coronavirus
in Armenia which resulted in another daily high of COVID-19 cases and deaths on
Sunday.
The Armenian Ministry of Health said on Monday morning that as many as 452
people tested positive for coronavirus in the past day, bringing to 7,113 the
total number of confirmed cases in the country of about 3 million. The latest
daily number of new infections is sharply up from the previous record high of
374 cases recorded on Friday.
With the ministry reporting 6 more deaths, the official death toll from the
epidemic rose to 87. It does not include the deaths of 39 other people infected
with the respiratory disease. The ministry claims that they died primarily as a
result of other, pre-existing conditions.
Six such fatalities were registered on Sunday. One of the victims is a
31-year-old woman who gave birth about a week ago, according to a ministry
statement.
Pashinian took to Facebook late on Sunday to discuss this “very dangerous
situation” and present further actions planned by the Armenian authorities.
“The main reason for the rise in the number of cases is industrial enterprises,”
he said in a video address. “More than 75 percent and even 80 percent of [new]
cases are registered in industrial enterprises and the services sector.”
Armenia -- A busy cafe in downtown Yerevan, May 14, 2020
Pashinian accused those businesses of failing to observe social distancing and
hygiene rules set by the government. He said the government will now enforce
tougher penalties for such violations.
“Those cafes, restaurants, bank branches, manufacturing enterprises or
hairdresser salons which do not observe the safety rules will be harshly shut
down,” he declared.
Pashinian’s government ordered the closure of most nonessential businesses and
seriously restricted people’s movements as part of a nationwide lockdown imposed
in late March. But it began relaxing these restrictions already in mid-April.
Although the daily numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases steadily increased in the
following weeks, most sectors of the Armenian economy were reopened by May 4.
The government went on to lift its ban on public transport and allow
kindergartens, shopping malls, indoor restaurants and gyms to resume their work.
Opposition figures and other critics say that the authorities ended the lockdown
too soon and never enforced it properly in the first place.
Pashinian effectively acknowledged on Sunday that the lifting of the lockdown
has contributed to the spread of the virus. But he insisted that the measure was
necessary for economic reasons.
Accordingly, the prime minister gave no indications that he may restore lockdown
restrictions. He made clear instead that the authorities will continue to put
the emphasis on the “people’s consciousness.” He again urged them to practice
social distancing and wear face masks in all enclosed spaces and shops in
particular.
Armenia -- People stroll in the center of Yerevan, May 22, 2020.
Armenians have already been required for the last few weeks to wear masks and
gloves when entering shops, banks and other businesses. There has been ample
evidence of widespread non-compliance with this requirement, however.
Health Minister Arsen Torosian repeatedly warned last week that the number of
people dying from coronavirus could rise sharply soon. He is particularly
worried about an impeding shortage of intensive care beds at the Armenian
hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.
In a Facebook post, Torosian said on Sunday evening that 154 of 186 such beds
available in the country are already occupied. He also wrote: “We have 230
patients in a serious condition and 52 patients in a critical condition.”
Faced with the soaring number of new cases, the health authorities on Friday
stopped hospitalizing or isolating infected people showing mild symptoms of the
virus or none at all. Such individuals are now supposed to self-isolate at home.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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