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                                        Thursday, 
Armenian Archbishop Indicted
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan leads a ceremony in St. Sargis Church, 
Yerevan, September 2, 2014.
An influential archbishop has been charged with fraud and money laundering amid 
mounting tensions between Armenia’s political leadership and the Armenian 
Apostolic Church.
In a statement released late on Wednesday, the National Security Service (NSS) 
claimed that Archbishop Navasard Kchoyan had colluded with an Armenian 
businessman to defraud another entrepreneur.
Although the statement named no names, it clearly referred to Ashot Sukiasian, 
who was convicted in December 2017 of having misappropriated most of a $10.7 
million loan which his former business partner, Paylak Hayrapetian, borrowed 
from an Armenian commercial bank in 2012. Sukiasian had pledged to invest that 
money in diamond mining in Sierra Leone. He never did that, according to 
prosecutors.
A district court in Yerevan sentenced Sukiasian to 16 years in prison. However, 
Armenia’s Court of Appeals shortened the sentence and released the disgraced 
businessman from prison in January this year.
Sukiasian was arrested in Georgia, extradited to Armenia and charged with fraud, 
money laundering and tax evasion in 2014 after Hetq.am discovered that 
Hayrapetian’s money was transferred to the offshore bank accounts of several 
Cyprus-registered companies. The investigative publication disclosed a document 
purportedly certifying that one of those firms is co-owned by Sukiasian, then 
Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian and Archbishop Kchoyan.
Armenia - Businessman Ashot Sukiasian stands trial in Yerevan, May 2016.
Both Sarkisian, who resigned as prime minister in April 2014, and Kchoyan 
strongly denied having any stakes in the company, saying that it was registered 
in their names in Cyprus without their knowledge. Sukiasian likewise claimed to 
have forged their signatures.
The NSS statement said that Kchoyan, who heads the Armenian Apostolic Church’s 
largest diocese econmpassing Yerevan and the southern Ararat province, owned 33 
percent of the offshore company. It said that he convinced Sukiasian to cover up 
his involvement in the scam.
The statement said nothing about the company’s other owners. Nor did it make any 
reference to Tigran Sarkisian, who now lives and works in Russia.
Kchoyan on Thursday denied through a lawyer the accusations brought against him. 
“Let them present a single piece of evidence that the archbishop was offered or 
given a single penny from that sum,” the lawyer, Hovik Arsenian, told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian service.
Reacting to the accusations, the Echmiadzin-based Mother See of the Armenian 
Church urged government officials and media to respect Kchoyan’s presumption of 
innocence.
In a statement, it also described as “bewildering” the fact that the NSS 
announced the charges one day after the church’s supreme head, Catholicos 
Garegin II, called for the release on health grounds of the jailed former 
President Robert Kocharian.
“Although this fact causes some concerns, the Mother See of Holy Echmiadzin 
hopes and will strive to ensure that an impartial and comprehensive 
investigation is conducted as part of the criminal case,” read the statement.
Garegin’s call for Kocharian’s release was criticized by Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s office. It prompted angry reactions from Pashinian’s political 
allies and supporters. Some of them demanded his resignation.
Kchoyan has long faced criticism from Armenia media outlets for his behavior and 
lifestyle seen as too earthly. He also sparked controversy by participating and 
even speaking at political gatherings organized by the former ruling Republican 
Party of Armenia (HHK). The archbishop personally blessed HHK leader Serzh 
Sarkisian at a February 2008 campaign rally held in the run-up to a dispute 
presidential election.
Sarkisian Testifies Before Lawmakers
        • Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Former President Serzh Sarkisian arrives at the parliament building 
in Yerevan to testify before lawmakers, .
Former President Serzh Sarkisian testified on Thursday before an Armenian 
parliamentary commission investigating the April 2016 hostilities in 
Nagorno-Karabakh.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian initiated the inquiry last year with the stated 
aim of assessing the Sarkisian administration’s preparedness for the four-day 
fighting which nearly escalated into an all-out Armenian-Azerbaijani war.
The ad hoc commission conducting it is headed by Andranik Kocharian, a senior 
lawmaker representing Pashinian’s My Step bloc. It has questioned dozens of 
current and former military officials.
Sarkisian, who ruled Armenia from 2008-2018, agreed to answer questions from 
members of the panel after it promised earlier this month to provide him with a 
copy of his videotaped testimony not subject to publication.
“The meeting took place in very normal conditions and I am very glad that I 
could give additional information about the April hostilities,” Sarkisian told 
reporters after the four-hour hearing held behind the closed doors.
“My goal is very clear: to give the public real, credible information about the 
hostilities during which we -- I mean the armed forces, the civil society and 
the public in general -- won and won not only on the battlefield but also 
diplomatically,” he said.
Sarkisian refused to give any details of his testimony, saying that he will hold 
an extensive news conference after the coronavirus-related state of emergency in 
Armenia ends on May 14.
“Mr. Sarkisian recalled many things,” Kocharian said for his part. He said the 
ex-president acknowledged the Armenian side’s “shortcomings” during the four-day 
heavy fighting which left about 80 Armenian soldiers dead.
The fighting broke out early on April 2, 2016 with an Azerbaijani offensive 
launched at several sections of the “line of contact” around Karabakh. It was 
halted by a Russian-mediated agreement four days later.
Some of Sarkisian’s opponents, including Pashinian, blamed the former Armenian 
leadership for modest territorial gains made by Azerbaijani troops and said the 
Armenian military should have anticipated the offensive involving tanks and 
heavy artillery.
Sarkisian and other former Armenian leaders maintain that the Azerbaijani army 
failed to achieve any major objectives and suffered disproportionate casualties. 
Sarkisian’s allies have also accused Pashinian of trying to exploit the issue 
for political aims.
Pashinian Again Warns Against Coronavirus Complacency
        • Robert Zargarian
        • Susan Badalian
Armenia -- A COVID-19 patient is brought to the Surp Grigor Lusavorich hospital 
in Yerevan, April 8, 2020.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Thursday again urged Armenians to strictly 
follow social distancing rules, warning of the risk of a fresh upsurge in 
coronavirus cases in the country.
Both Pashinian and Health Minister Arsen Torosian insisted at the same time that 
the COVID-19 epidemic, which has killed 18 people so far, remains under control.
The Armenian Ministry of Health reported the latest fatality in the morning. It 
also said that 48 more coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the past day. 
They brought to 1,159 the total number of cases registered in Armenia so far.
Also, the number of people who have recovered from the highly contagious disease 
rose by 61 to 358. Torosian stressed the importance of this figure when he spoke 
at a cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
He said the health authorities thus “ended the day with a positive balance” 
despite more than doubling the daily number of coronavirus tests since April 10. 
The authorities are still able to use only half of Armenia’s hospital capacity 
in the fight against the virus, he added.
Torosian also revealed that more than 1,500 Armenians have been released from 
quarantine while about 300 other quarantined people have tested positive for the 
virus since the government declared a state of emergency on March 16. “I’m 
saying this to show that the quarantine measures are very effective,” explained 
the minister.
“Overall, our infection curve is now within a manageability range, so to speak,” 
Pashinian said for his part. “But if we carry on with the kind of attitudes 
which we see very often in our reality we may have a renewed outbreak of the 
disease.”
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during a cabinet meeting in 
Yerevan, .
“The police cannot control everything” he went on. “Citizens must realize that 
this situation is extremely serious … Those who are healthy and very unlikely to 
die [from the disease] must realize that their loved ones and the elderly loved 
ones of their friends and relatives can die as a result of their actions.”
Pashinian cited in that regard the government’s decision late on Wednesday to 
effectively seal off Norashen, a village 20 kilometers south of Yerevan, over 
the risk of mass infections among its residents. He revealed that a quarantined 
resident of Norashen was allowed to attend the funeral of his father who died 
there a few days ago.
“The isolated citizen was escorted to the funeral service after being warned to 
follow social distancing and other rules,” said Pashinian. “However, things got 
emotional at one point and contrary to those appeals and warnings they did not 
stick to the rules and hugged their relatives in line with the common practice. 
Two days later the isolated person tested positive for coronavirus.”
According to Norashen sources, the infected man was placed under quarantine 
immediately after returning from Russia earlier this month.
All roads leading to Norashen remained blocked by police checkpoints on Thursday 
afternoon. Vehicles were allowed to enter or leave the village only in cases of 
extreme necessity. A senior regional police official said the quarantine will 
last until Sunday morning.
The village mayor, Artak Harutiunian, refused to say whether participants of the 
funeral have been identified and isolated or whether he was among them. 
“Everything is alright,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service by phone. “I’m in the 
village, with my fellow villagers.”
Another local resident, who claimed to have not participated in the funeral, was 
untroubled by the situation in the winegrowing community. “My dear, he had 
endured hunger and power cuts [in the early 1990s,]” he said. “How can we not 
survive this quarantine?”
Armenia -- Police officers enforcing a coronavirus lockdown check cars leaving 
Yerevan, April 1, 2020.
The Armenian government imposed a nationwide lockdown and ordered the closure of 
many nonessential businesses as the epidemic gained momentum on March 24. The 
rate of new infections fell considerably after April 3, leading the government 
to allow some of those businesses to resume their operations on April 13.
Pashinian on Thursday reaffirmed the authorities’ intention to reopen next week 
more sectors of the Armenian economy and textile manufacturing in particular. 
“But if the owners and employees of those factories do not show particular 
responsibility this decision will have disastrous consequences,” he declared.
He said the health and law-enforcement authorities will therefore keep those 
plants under “special surveillance” to ensure that they take all precautions 
against the virus.
Armenian Parliament Passes Bill On Asset Seizures
        • Gayane Saribekian
        • Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks in the parliament, Yerevan, 
.
The Armenian parliament passed in the second and final reading on Thursday a 
government bill allowing authorities to confiscate private properties and other 
assets deemed to have been acquired illegally.
The package of legal amendments drafted by the government late last year allows 
prosecutors to investigate individuals in case of having “sufficient grounds to 
suspect” that the market value of their assets exceeds their “legal incomes” by 
at least 50 million drams ($103,000).
Should the prosecutors find such discrepancies they can ask courts to 
nationalize those assets even if their owners are not found guilty of corruption 
or other criminal offenses. The latter will have to prove the legality of their 
holdings if they are to retain them.
Speaking during a parliament debate on Wednesday, Justice Minister Rustam 
Badasian insisted that current and former state officials will be the main 
targets of what the government portrays as a major anti-corruption measure. But 
he reaffirmed that it will also cover other individuals, who are accused or 
suspected of corrupt practices.
“This is an instrument for returning to the state the wealth amassed illegally, 
often times through corruption mechanisms, and skillfully hidden by persons who 
abused their position,” said Lilit Makunts, the parliamentary leader of Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc.
Deputy Justice Minister Srbuhi Galian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Tuesday 
that the process will be handled by a new division that will be set up within 
the Office of the Prosecutor-General later this year.
Galian said rulings on confiscations demanded by the prosecutors will initially 
be handed down by judges to be selected by the Supreme Judicial Council, which 
oversees Armenian courts. Such cases will eventually be referred to a special 
anti-corruption court which is due to be set by the end of 2021, she said.
Armenia -- Deputy Justice Minister Srbuhi Galian speaks to RFE/RL, April 14, 
2020.
The National Assembly overwhelmingly approved the bill in the first reading on 
March 5. The two opposition parties represented in the parliament tentatively 
backed it before proposing dozens of amendments.
Only some of those amendments were incorporated into the final version of the 
bill. In particular, the government agreed to increase the threshold for asset 
seizures from 25 million to 50 million drams.
The changes failed to satisfy the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK). One of 
its deputies, Arkady Khachatrian, said during Wednesday’s debate that time 
frames set by the bill do not provide for speedy investigations into the 
legality of people’s wealth.
Earlier, LHK leader Edmon Marukian questioned the effectiveness of the entire 
mechanism, saying that corrupt officials who registered their properties in 
their relatives’ name may well be let off the hook.
Mikael Melkumian, a senior lawmaker from the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party 
(BHK), also voiced misgivings. In particular, he said that the bill does not 
take into account sharp increases in real estate prices that occurred in Armenia 
in the 2000s.
Nevertheless, BHK deputies were among 91 members of the 132-seat parliament who 
voted for the bill on Thursday. One LHK deputy voted against and 15 others 
abstained.
Other critics of the government have challenged the legality of the planned 
asset seizures. They also claim that Pashinian is intent on a far-reaching 
“redistribution of property” in the country.
Pashinian has denied having such plans. He insisted in December that asset 
forfeiture is essential for rooting out corruption and will not be arbitrary.
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian openly objected to the bill at the time, 
however. Speaking at a cabinet meeting, the former banker said he is worried 
that it could scare away investors and lead to capital flight from Armenia.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
 

                                        Thursday, 
Sarkisian Trial Hearings Postponed Over Coronavirus
Armenia -- Former President Serzh Sarkisian arrives at a courtroom in Yerevan, 
February 25, 2020.
A court in Yerevan agreed to postpone by one month hearings in the corruption 
trial of former President Serzh Sarkisian which were due to resume on Thursday.
Sarkisian’s lawyers requested the postponement earlier this week, citing the 
“epidemiological situation” in coronavirus-hit Armenia.
One of the lawyers, Amram Makinian, said the presiding judge granted the request 
and scheduled the next court hearing for April 23.
Sarkisian and four other men went on trial on February 25, accused of embezzling 
489 million drams ($1 million) in government funds allocated in 2013 for the 
provision of subsidized fuel to farmers.
The ex-president was specifically charged in December with giving privileged 
treatment to a longtime friend and businessman whose company won a government 
contract to supply the fuel. He rejects the accusations as politically motivated.
Sarkisian, 65, ruled Armenia from 2008-2018. He resigned amid mass protests 
sparked by his attempt to extend his decade-long rule.
Armenian Government Unveils Coronavirus Rescue Package
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian speaks during a cabinet meeting in 
Yerevan, .
Armenia’s government formally approved on Thursday a multimillion-dollar 
stimulus package designed to cushion the economic impact of the coronavirus 
pandemic on businesses and ordinary people.
The plan makes most Armenian firms as well as farmers eligible for financial 
assistance or credit subsidies.
It also calls for one-off cash handouts to citizens who have lost their jobs 
this month due to economic disruption caused by coronavirus. They will receive 
100,000 drams ($200) each if they have children under the age of 14 and are the 
sole breadwinners of their families.
The main focus of the wide-ranging aid is on struggling businesses. In 
particular, creditworthy firms and individual entrepreneurs will receive grants 
worth $500 million (just over $1 million) if they pledge to use that money to 
pay their workers’ wages, buy equipment or raw materials or pay taxes. The 
scheme will not apply to Armenian banks, insurance companies and casinos.
The government promised additional grants to those small businesses that have 
not laid off any workers in recent weeks. The amount of such funding will depend 
on the volume of their annual turnover.
The government will also enable small firms to receive low-interest loans with 
subsidies to be paid to commercial banks.
Armenia -- An empty street cafe in Yerevan, March 14, 2020.
The banks will also be paid to provide cheap credit to farmers across the 
country. The latter will be able to borrow up to 1 million drams each and avoid 
paying any interest for two years.
If farmers set up cooperatives and launch major agricultural projects the 
government will co-finance between 30 percent and 70 percent of them.
“If a cooperative decides, for example, to take a 200 million-dram loan it will 
only need 60 million drams worth of collateral,” Economy Minister Tigran 
Khachatrian said during a cabinet meeting. “The government will cover the rest.”
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said, for his part, that the government 
assistance will also boost Armenia’s banking system. “We want the circulatory 
system of our economy to start working again,” he told ministers.
Pashinian insisted that the coronavirus relief package will not only help the 
domestic economy weather the storm but also lay the groundwork for its renewed 
expansion during “the post-epidemic period.”
The premier did not specify the total amount of the emergency funding. He said 
last week that the government plans to inject at least 150 billion drams ($300 
million) into the economy. Armenia’s overall public spending is projected to 
total around $4 billion this year.
Opposition leaders dismissed the promised aid as insufficient. During a 
parliament debate on Wednesday, some of them called on the government to impose 
a blanket freeze on all loan repayments in the country.
Pashinian rejected those calls. He said the banks should deal with defaulting 
clients on a case-by-case basis. Some banks have already decided to extend 
repayment deadlines for consumer and mortgage loans by two months.
Armenia Reports First Coronavirus Death
Armenia -- The Nork hospital in Yerevan specializing in treatment of infectious 
diseases, March 24, 2020.
Armenia reported its first fatality from a coronavirus infection on Thursday ten 
days after declaring a state of emergency to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
A spokeswoman for the Armenian Ministry of Health, Alina Nikoghosian, said the 
72-year victim suffered from multiple medical conditions, including a heart 
disease, and died one day after being transferred to an intensive care unit of 
Yerevan’s Nork hospital.
“Unfortunately, it was not possible to save the latter’s life because of the 
accompanying diseases,” she wrote on Facebook.
Nikoghosian did not identify the victim.
Other Armenian officials said earlier in the day that two elderly persons 
infected with coronavirus are in “extremely grave” condition. One of them is a 
U.S. citizen, according Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
As of Thursday morning, Armenian health authorities confirmed a total of 290 
cases of coronavirus in the country, up from 265 cases reported the previous 
day. Health Minister Arsen Torosian said on Wednesday night that 36 infected 
persons are suffering from pneumonia at the moment.
Almost 100 of those cases were registered in the last four days. “Even if this 
pace of growth remains the same [in the days ahead] it will still be a favorable 
pace,” Torosian told a news conference held a few hours before the announcement 
of the first coronavirus-related death.
Torosian insisted that the COVID-19 infection rate in Armenia is slowly 
declining thanks to confinement orders issues by the authorities to thousands of 
people who have been in contact with coronavirus patients. He also stressed the 
importance of a nationwide lockdown imposed by the government late on Tuesday.
“We hope that the restriction of people’s movement for [at least] seven days … 
will help to restrain the increase in those numbers,” said the minister.
Pashinian likewise stated that Armenia has so far avoided a “worst-case 
scenario” for the spread of the deadly virus.
“As we can see, in other countries the numbers are growing in geometrical 
progression,” he said during a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan. “We don’t have 
such a thing. We have a certain rise [in coronavirus cases], and in order to 
keep the situation under control we must strictly maintain the [lockdown] regime 
set for this week.”
Yerevan Eases Coronavirus-Related Curbs On Press Freedom
        • Susan Badalian
Armenia -- A police vehicle parked outside the Armenian government headquarters 
at Yerevan's deserted Republic Square, .
Responding to strong criticism from journalists and media watchdogs, Armenia’s 
government has significantly eased its controversial restrictions on the spread 
of information about the coronavirus pandemic.
Immediately after declaring a state of emergency last week, the government 
obligated Armenian media outlets and social media users to disseminate only 
coronavirus-related news that are released by official sources. It said this is 
necessary for preventing false rumors and panic-mongering in the country.
The Armenian police have since accused more than two dozen news services of 
flouting these restrictions and ordered them to remove news stories from their 
websites.They have also controversially forced some Facebook users to delete 
posts critical of the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Journalists, press freedom groups and opposition politicians have denounced the 
de facto censorship imposed by the authorities. They believe that the curbs on 
freedom of speech are unnecessary and counterproductive.
The OSCE’s representative on freedom of the media, Harlem Desir, also voiced 
concern at the restrictions in a statement issued on Tuesday. Desir said that 
while he understands the Armenian authorities’ desire to prevent panic 
independent news reporting is essential for “countering ‘fake news’ on the 
pandemic.”
The government decided to allow such reporting on Wednesday. It said the 
Armenian media will only be required to fully reflect information coming from 
official sources and to swiftly publish retractions or clarifications demanded 
by government bodies enforcing the state of emergency. Local journalists will 
also be free to cite or reprint relevant reports by foreign media.
Ashot Melikian of the Yerevan-based Committee to Protect Freedom of Speech 
welcomed on Thursday the new rules for media coverage of the pandemic.
“Now that … media outlets can again operate in an unrestricted manner I believe 
that they will be able to collect information important to the public from their 
own sources as well,” Melikian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. He urged them to 
double-check facts and avoid reporting fake news.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.