Author: Kalantarian Kevo

Armenia, Netherlands to cooperate in housing industry

June 18, 2011 – 11:34 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The delegation led by the Chairman of the National
Social Housing Council of Armenia, Secretary of the National Security
Council (NSC), Arthur Baghdasaryan, will be in the Netherlands on June
20-22.

Mr. Baghdasaryan is expected to meet with the Dutch State Secretary of
Security and Justice and leadership of the Hague Center for Strategic
Studies to discuss ways to strengthen security cooperation between the
two countries.

He will also meet with representatives of various social organizations
to focus on cooperation in housing industry and sign a numbers of
agreements on investments programs to be implemented in Armenia, the
NSC press office reported.

Latvian Journalist Found Guilty Based on Possible “Conclusions” by Readers
Liana Sayadyan

hetq
00:05, June 18, 2011

Gintaras Visockas, publisher of the Latvian newspaper ,
has to spend 40 days in jail. He can’t pay the 33,000 lats (10,000
Euro) in compensation for a slander suit he lost in the courts.

Visockas was found guilty of anything specific he wrote but rather, in
the court’s view, due to the possible conclusions reached by the
average reader. I was fortunate to have met the beleaguered journalist
in a media conference recently sponsored by the OSCE in Vilnius.

Visockas, who has been covering military and political issues for the
past 25 years, wrote a piece about retired General Ceslovas Jezerskas,
a candidate for the Latvian presidency in 2009.

In his article, Visockas wrote that the general has been a keen
athlete in the Soviet era and that the Latvian State Security
Committee kept close tabs on all sport groups. He also wrote that the
general’s wife and daughter had committed suicide.

A Vilnius court, in its decision, wrote that an average reader of the
article might get the impression that General Jezerskas was somehow
tied into the Latvian secret service. It ordered the journalist to pay
23,000 lats to the general for moral damages and 10,000 lats for the
plaintiff’s incurred court fees.

The compensation portion is to be garnished from the journalist’s
wages over a period of 1.5 years. But since Visockas cannot pay the
court fees, he was sentenced to 40 days in jail.

The journalist wasn’t able to file an appeal since the general
petitioned the court as a private citizen and not a public figure.
According to Latvian law, in such cases a defendant’s right to argue a
court verdict is restricted.

Visockas considers the court verdict ludicrous. “How can the court
predict what an average reader will conclude? If they are not asked,
then the court’s verdict is mere supposition and I find it very
insulting.”

At the Vilnius conference the journalist’s lawyer said that the
unprecedented verdict was an attempt by judges and the society at
large to strike back at reporters for the widespread freedoms that
exist in the Latvian press.

“But it was an innocent man who was hit by this verdict. The big fish
have yet to be held accountable,” said the lawyer.

She added that when the courts adjudicate cases involving slander or
defamation, not only must the interests of both sides (public v
private) be weighed, but that some semblance of balance must be
maintained between compensation awards and a newspaper’s ability to
pay, and that this formula must be inscribed in the law.

As an example of such a violation of this principle, the lawyer cited
a recent case where a Latvian paper was found guilty of character
assassination when it published the personal details (names,
residences) of a number of AIDS patients. The paper was obligated to
pay each patient 3,000 Euros, the most it could fine the paper
according to the law. At a time, the paper only had paid-in-capital of
9 million Euros.

After this verdict Latvia attorneys filed a petition with the European
Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. It found the Latvia government
guilty of restricting people’s rights by setting a maximum
compensation level and ordered Latvia to remove the threshold. Now,
courts must decide on an individual case basis.

Visockas is also pinning his hopes on the European Court since the
paper he runs is in a poor financial situation and can barely pay
employee wages.

This example from Latvia also reverberates with what is taking place
in Armenia today, given the judiciary’s assault on the media here.

Our courts do not take into consideration a media outlet’s financial
resources when issuing compensation awards for slander, defamation and
related charges. They do not follow the principle of proportionality
between the perceived extent of personal damage of the plaintiff and
the defendant’s ability to pay. They also gloss over the public’s
right to be informed.

We Armenian journalists at the conference weren’t all that surprised
by the criminal punishment meted out to this reporter in Latvia, a
member of the European Union. (In many European countries, slander and
defamation are still on the books as criminal offenses.)

Rather, we were more astonished by the court’s argument in finding
Gintaras Visockas guilty in the first place; i.e. the probable
assumptions of readers.

I thought to myself that it would be good if Armenian judges never got
wind of this “substantiation” for use in their own verdicts.

But in the recent slander case pitting the Kocharyan family against
the newspaper Hrapark, I saw that those involved in our legal system
are cleverer by a mile. There, the plaintiff’s legal team got to work
taking choice adjectives out of context and building a case on such
misrepresentation.

Here too in Armenia, we can only out our hopes in the European Court
and wait for it to issue a decision brought by an Armenian media
outlet.

But how will judges in Armenia comprehend it since, if they wanted to,
they could take into account existing European Court legal precedents.

HUMANITAIRE
Ferdinand Gracian « l’eau c’est la vie des villages arméniens »
l’association « Chene » de Marseille a déjà installé 31 adductions d’eau

Ferdinand Gracian (85 ans), né en Roumanie de parents originaires de
Van, est installé depuis 1951 à Beaumont, le quartier arménien de
Marseille. Ancien fabricant de jeans, F. Gracian s’est reconverti en
1988 dans l’humanitaire suite au séisme meurtrier qui frappa
l’Arménie. Depuis cette date, il dirige avec son épouse Iskouhi, la
branche marseillaise de l’association « Chene ». « A ce jour, nous
avons réussi à installer dans les villages d’Arménie et du Haut
Karabagh 31 adductions d’eau. Le coût de chaque installation étant
entre 2 000 et 5 000 euros. Une action que l’on effectue en lien avec
notre bureau à Erévan, situé au 16 rue Sayat Nova » dit Ferdinand
Gracian. Par ailleurs, l’homme cumule près de 120 containers de
matériels médicaux et autres produits envoyé en direction de l’Arménie
par la ligne Marseille-Poti-Erévan. Aujourd’hui Ferdinand Gracian
lance un appel aux sponsors « pour installer de nouveaux réseaux de
conduite d’eau potable dans les villages arméniens ». Et F. Gracian
d’ajouter « l’eau, c’est la vie et grce à cette eau, beaucoup de
villageois Arméniens restent dans leurs village et n’émigrent pas en
Russie. Chaque sponsor a la possibilité d’aller en Arménie ou au Haut
Karabagh pour visiter les installations et les réalisations ». De
nombreuses associations, telles que l’Abris Club de Toulon en
partenariat avec « Chene » ont financé quelques adductions d’eau en
Arménie. Pour financer ces opérations, Ferdinand Gracian a parfois
recours à son sens commercial. « J’ai ainsi importé d’Arménie par
containers frigorifiques, des nombreuses tonnes de tomates séchées de
la région d’Armavir pour les revendre en France. Et avec l’argent
récolté, réinvestir dans l’adduction d’eau des villages en Arménie.
Nous avons également rénové la toiture d’une école près d’Achdarak en
fournissant par ailleurs du matériel scolaire » dit l’infatigable
Ferdinand Gracian. Il conclut « l’Arménie a encore besoin de nous
tous. Aidons-là ! ».

Contact : Association Chene, 38 avenue de la Petite Suisse 13012
Marseille. Tél. 04 91 88 13 71. Fax : 04 91 88 23 63.

Krikor Amirzayan

samedi 18 juin 2011,
Krikor [email protected]

Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News
June 16, 2011 Thursday

International Crisis Group: Great hopes for Azerbaijani,Russian and
Armenian presidents in Kazan

by E. Tariverdiyeva, Trend News Agency, Baku, Azerbaijan

June 16–JUNE 16 / , Azerbaijan, Baku — It is difficult to predict
whether there will be any progress at the meeting in Kazan, but there
are great hopes, International Crisis Group official Sabina Fraser
said in an interview with Zhamanak newspaper.

“This is also connected with the fears that if no agreement is
reached, the question arises

whether this process will continue,” she said. “Armenia and Azerbaijan
will have elections

soon. The electoral processes are also planned to be held in the
mediating-countries. If theparties fail to agree this year, it will be
difficult to compromise in 2012-2013.”

The Azerbaijani, Armenian and Russian presidents’ meeting in Kazan is
scheduled for late June.

This will be the ninth tripartite meeting between the presidents of
Azerbaijan, Russia and Armenia.

Earlier, the parties signed a declaration envisaging the return of
POWs. It is of humanitarian nature.

She said the last statement of the Minsk Group’s co-chairing countries
was much more clear, specific and powerful. The statement clearly
stated the expectation of the presidents for the parties to agree on
basic principles in the nearest future, perhaps, during a meeting in
Kazan.

“It is also stressed that if consensus is reached, all three countries
will observe theimplementation of these principles by providing
financial and other assistance,” she added.

“If the parties fail to agree and one of them uses force, it will be
perceived by co-chairingcountries, as a negative step. It will not be
perceived as a way of solving the problems.”

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988
when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian
armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992,
including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.
Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a

ceasefire agreement in 1994.

The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group — Russia, France, and the U.S.
— are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four
resolutions on the liberation of Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding
regions.

States News Service
June 15, 2011 Wednesday

BERMAN INTRODUCES RESOLUTION ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM IN TURKEY,
COSPONSORS ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION

WASHINGTON

The following information was released by the office of California
Rep. Howard Berman:

Congressman Howard L. Berman, senior Democrat on the House Foreign
Affairs Committee, today joined Congressman Ed Royce in introducing H.
Res. 306, a bipartisan resolution calling on Turkey to end all
discrimination against Christian minorities. Already, this resolution
has the support of 31 members of Congress.

By expropriating church properties, harassing worshippers, and
refusing to grant full legal status to some Christian groups, Turkey
has failed to fulfill its obligation as a signatory to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, Berman said. This important resolution
calls on Turkey to end its deeply disturbing practice of religious
discrimination, cease all restrictions on gatherings for religious
prayer and education, and return stolen church property.

Berman is also an original cosponsor of H. Res. 304, the Armenian
Genocide resolution, introduced this week by Congressmen Robert Dold
and Adam Schiff.

As the global leader on human rights, the United States has a moral
responsibility to recognize the Armenian Genocide, Berman said. We
must do everything in our power to ensure that the horrors of the
Armenian Genocide will never be forgotten.

As we recall this terrible chapter of human history, we should also
reflect on the contributions of the Armenian community in America —
including hundreds of thousands in California — to the richness of
our character and culture. The strength they and their immigrant
ancestors have displayed in overcoming tragedy to flourish in this
country is an example for all of us. Their success is moving testimony
to the truth that tyranny and evil cannot extinguish the vitality of
the human spirit.

Last year, as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Berman moved
the Armenian Genocide resolution through the Committee.

States News Service
June 14, 2011 Tuesday

SCHIFF AND DOLD INTRODUCE BIPARTISAN RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING THE
ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

WASHINGTON

The following information was released by the office of California
Rep. Adam Schiff:

Today, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced a bipartisan House
Resolution with Rep. Robert Dold (R-IL) recognizing and commemorating
the Armenian Genocide in the House of Representatives. The resolution
calls on the President and the U.S. Government to properly recognize
and commemorate the atrocities that occurred in Armenia beginning in
1915, and which resulted in the death of 1.5 million Armenian men,
women and children, as genocide.

The facts of history are clear, well documented and non-negotiable 1.5
million Armenians were deliberately murdered in the first genocide of
the 20th century, Rep. Schiff said. If we are to prevent future
atrocities, we must condemn genocide whenever and wherever it occurs.
It has never served our national interest to be complicit in another
nation’s campaign of genocide denial, and it never will. While there
are still some survivors left, we have a compelling, urgent and moral
obligation to speak plainly about the past.

It has been 96 years since the systematic and deliberate annihilation
campaign was launched by the government of the Ottoman Empire against
its Armenian population. While the Armenian Genocide has been
recognized by more than 20 nations including Canada, Italy, Sweden,
France, Argentina and Russia, as well as the European Parliament, it
has not been formally recognized by the U.S. Congress in decades.

The United States has a duty to remember those who have no voice, Rep.
Dold said. Ninety-six years ago 1.5 million people were killed simply
because they were Armenian. Ive personally heard stories from
Armenian-Americans in my district who lost loved ones during the
Armenian genocide. This appalling tragedy should not be ignored;
rather, as a nation that fights for justice it is only fitting that
the United States honestly recognize the Armenian Genocide and the
victims so that together we can help prevent future genocides.

Bolstering his efforts to achieve justice and human rights in the
region, Rep. Schiff has also joined in co-sponsoring a second
resolution introduced today by Reps. Ed Royce and Howard Berman,
calling on the government of Turkey to end religious discrimination,
to cease all restrictions on gatherings for religious prayer and
education, and to return stolen church property.

By expropriating church properties, harassing worshippers, and
refusing to grant full legal status to members of the Christian faith,
the Republic of Turkey is violating its obligation to uphold basic
freedoms that are the foundation of justice and peace worldwide, Rep.
Schiff said.

The Republic of Turkey is a signatory to the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, which requires freedom of thought, conscience and
religion. While Turkey considers itself a secular democracy, the U.S.
Commission on International Religious Freedom has identified the
Republic as one of the worlds leading violators of religious freedom.

Christians constitute less than 1 percent of Turkeys population,
placing them in an especially vulnerable position, Rep. Schiff said.
This resolution will help to promote religious equality by shining a
light on the unacceptable violations and intolerance of religious
freedom in Turkey.

Interfax, Russia
June 14 2011

Yerevan, Baku narrow gap on Karabakh – ministry

Yerevan, Baku narrow gap on Karabakh – ministry
YEREVAN. June 14 (Interfax) The Armenian, Azeri and Russian foreign
minister held a working meeting in Moscow on Saturday.

“The parties managed to narrow the gap on a number of key issues
regarding the Underlying principles of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
settlement,” the Armenian Foreign Ministry told Interfax on Saturday
evening.

“The draft document will be discussed at the forthcoming tri-partite
summit (including Russia) in late June,” the ministry said.

Interfax, Russia
June 14 2011

Time has come for serious progress in Karabakh peace process – Azeri official

BAKU. June 14

Time has come for serious progress in Karabakh peace process – Azeri official
Baku hopes that the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia and Russia will
be able to achieve positive results when discussing ways to settle the
conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh at a meeting in Kazan, Russia, on June
24.

“We place high hopes on the meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan,
Armenia and Russia in Kazan,” the director of the Azeri presidential
administration’s social and political affairs department, Ali Gasanov,
told journalists on Monday.

“We think that the time has come to make serious progress in the
settlement of the Karabakh conflict,” he said.

The upcoming meeting will benefit from a statement on the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, which was adopted by the presidents of the
member countries of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in
Europe’s (OSCE) Minsk Group on the sidelines of the G8 summit in
Deauville, France, in May, Gasanov said.

“Their commitment to finding a solution to the conflict as soon as
possible is obvious,” he said.

The OSCE Minsk Group member states called on the sides in the conflict
to step up their efforts.

“In our opinion, given the spirit of this statement, certain progress
could be made at the meeting in Kazan,” Gasanov said.

tm

news.am, Armenia
June 17 2011

Repatriation of captives slows down due to Azerbaijan’s lack of determination

June 17, 2011 | 18:31

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s Defense Ministry hosted the meeting of commission
on Armenian prisoners of war, civilian captives and missing persons on
Friday.

The meeting was chaired by Armenia’s Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan.
The participants summed up the activities in 2011 and pending
programs. The commission members stressed that repatriation of
captives has slowed down, as Azerbaijan fails to display determination
and readiness. The members emphasized that it is necessary to inform
the international agencies that Red Cross Baku Office’s activities are
limited by Azerbaijani authorities, the press service of Armenia’s
Defense Ministry informed Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Panorama, Armenia
June 17 2011

Arthur Abraham arrived in Yerevan to arrange private life

Professional boxer Arthur Abraham says he’s not intended to finish
his career. Abraham told the reporters in Yerevan he has had
consultations with his coaches and is going to change the class to be
award world champion title.

Arthur Abraham says he has arrived in Yerevan first to arrange his
private life and second, to donate equipment of 100thousand euros to
boxing school after Yengibaryan, where he used to train for 4 years.

`Unfortunately, I lost my last bout. I wanted to knock Ward out
because I had little chances on scores in US. But I failed. I’m going
to stay in Armenia for 3 weeks and then again depart for Germany where
I’ll continue my trainings.’

Talking about his future plans, Abraham said as soon as he ends with
his career, he will found a boxing school in Armenia.