Author: Kanayan Tamar

RA NA PRESIDENT HOVIK ABRAHAMYAN MEETS WITH THE PRESIDENT OF LATVIA ANDRIS BCRZIÒÐ

06.06.2013

On June 6 in Riga the President of Latvia Andris Bcrziòð received
the delegation led by the RA NA President Hovik Abrahamyan.

Welcoming the NA President of Armenia and the members of the
delegation, the President of Latvia has highly assessed the current
level of the Armenian-Latvian cooperation, the relations established
between Armenia and Latvia, which serve an important pledge for
further development and deepening of cooperation in different spheres.

With respect to deepening the bilateral relations Andris Bcrziòð
highlighted the official visit of the NA President Hovik Abrahamyan
to Latvia, deeming necessary the further development of the
inter-parliamentary relations, the activation of the bilateral
contacts, as well as the deepening of cooperation in the spheres
of economy, science, education, culture and other spheres. In this
context the President of Latvia emphasized the implementation of
concrete programmes. President Bcrziòð has underlined that Latvia
supports Armenia in the process of European integration and has
proposed backing and experience of Latvia in this issue.

Thanking for warm reception the NA President Hovik Abrahamyan has
said that the Armenian authorities attach great importance to the
contacts of high level with Latvia and has noted with satisfaction
that during the recent period the Armenian-Latvia political agenda
has been rather full. Hovik Abrahamyan has informed the President of
Latvia that during his visit an agreement has been reached with the
Speaker of the Latvian Saiema in deepening the cooperation between
the parliaments, and during the meeting with the Prime Minister the
necessity of giving a long-term and mutually beneficial nature to the
economic relations has been highlighted. In Mr Abrahamyanÿs word,
Armenia highlights the development of relations with the EU member
countries and parliaments, and the Eastern Partnership moves to another
qualitative plane the cooperation with the European countries, opening
new perspectives for Armenia and the Summit to be held in Vilnius in
November of this year and pre-signing of the Association Agreement
will be an important basis for further deepening of relations. The
Head of the Armenian Parliament has emphasized the enlivening of
the bilateral trade-economic relations, noting in this context that
their level does not reflect the current potential for cooperation. He
highlighted the activity of the Inter-Governmental Committee.

In the course of the meeting the sides touched upon the issues
concerning the NK problem and the regional problems. Mr Abrahamyan
has stressed that Armenia sees the settlement of the Karabakh problem
only within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group, as a result of
peaceful negotiations. The President of Latvia also highlighted the
solution of the problem through peaceful means in the dimension of
the OSCE Minsk Group.

During the meeting both sides also discussed other issues of
bilateral interest and deemed important the deepening of cooperation
in international structures.

PUBLIC PRESSURES IS HELPFUL TO INVESTIGATIVE BODIES

Interview with Ara Ghazaryan, deputy director of ARNI Consult Law Firm

Mr. Ghazaryan, the annual report of the Department of State states
“courts remained subject to political pressure from the executive
branch”. Acquittals are 1.5%. So, are changes in the judiciary aimed
at form, not content?

First, the reports of the State Department are mostly collective and
general, I would not rely on them because we are going through reforms
and we can assess the state of things better. In 2009 acquittals
were 25, in 2010 – 56, in 2011 – 77. People are increasingly prone to
apply to courts, the courts are overloaded. The number of judges per
population is too few, the number of judges must be boosted as courts
are receiving more applications. According to last year’s statistics,
20,000 cases were sent to the administrative court only. This court
has most overload, and the question occurs whether the steep rise of
number of applications to courts speaks about lack of confidence in
courts… Not, of course. One of the answers could be diversification
of legal relations. There are a lot of alternatives, extra-judiciary
mechanisms where the same growth of cases is not observed. So,
confidence is not deceasing at least if the number of applications
to court grows.

In your opinion, was the notorious case of Mataghis the result of a
single-handed decision and was it the judge’s decision? Is the court
able to be independent from the government?

The public is aware of those cases which are covered by journalists,
while journalists cover those cases which present public interest. As
a professional, a student, I see a full picture. The case of Mataghis
is an exception due to the force of its evidence, I do not take it
as a standard. For me the standard is the 30 factors worked out by
American lawyers which measure the performance of judicial reforms.

These factors include the salary of judges, self-regulatory mechanisms
etc. Compiling all the facts, I can report growth in many aspects.

Today the key issue is the independence of courts. Of course, the
judicial system is not fully independent but it is a process, and there
are guarantees of independence, and the judicial system is making an
important bid, and now they are speaking about internal independence
of judges. While the courts are subject to political pressure, the
internal system, including the Court of Cassation, the Council of
Justice, the Judicial Department and other institutions, have developed
to a degree that now judges are in dependence on the internal system,
the self-regulatory bodies of the judiciary. We learn from different
cases that the judicial system counteracts pressure. Of course, there
are cases when a judge is unable to resist the executive but they
tend to decrease. The executive has understood that if intervention
continues, international investments will decrease because foreign
investors first look at the mechanisms of judicial protection. In
lots of spheres these mechanisms are effective, in others, such as
tax justice, judicial check is lame but this is a process, and the
vector is directed at development.

The case of Harsnakar was vociferous in the beginning but seems to be
entering into a deadlock. Is the interest of one person subordinated
to the public interest?

The court examination is in progress, we cannot give evaluations now.

The defenders of the victim have filed a number of complaints during
the preliminary examination but this is not a measurement because
defense starts working only at the end of the preliminary examination
so it is early to make evaluations. Second, there is no evidence that
Ruben Hairapetyan was engaged in the incident, it is a presumption
that it could not be that he was not engaged in the incident. If he
was engaged, I very much doubt that fair trial will reach him. His
sponsors will protect him. Unfortunately, this factor has to be taken
into consideration. However, the Council for the Defense is unable
to provide evidence that Ruben Hairapetyan knew or was engaged in
the incident.

Does the inspection of the scene with a three-day delay indicate a
tendency to cover up the case?

Yes, at the beginning the tendency of cover-up was evident. First the
case was sent to the Ministry of Defense because the subject was an
officer who was supposed to have broken the law. However, the public
backlash caused the ministry of defense to send the case back, and
the statement of the chief of police followed who said that soon some
people would be arrested. This is not the usual practice. A chief of
police would not announce arrests beforehand.

So does it take public pressure to control the process?

Public pressure is helpful to the investigative bodies. They take
public opinion into consideration more than ever, the judiciary as
well. This is one of the biggest achievements of March 1. I teach
at the Prosecutors School, they take public opinion seriously, and
the reforms these institutions are undergoing are the result of a
political decision rather than public pressure.

Investigators are the most important actors in the stage of preliminary
examination but there are not enough resources. The investigative
bodies must have more resources to upgrade their practice.

We often see cases sent to court where evidence is marred with
shortcomings which are the result of scarce resources.

There must be public control and a corpus of unbiased advocates to
turn the wheel of justice.

Siranuysh Papyan 15:43 07/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

KOTAYK PROVINCIAL ADMINISTRATION SIGNS 70 MILLION CONTRACT WITH COMPANY OWNED BY ENVIRONMENT MINISTER
Grisha Balasanyan

Here’s yet another example of a business owned by a top government
official getting a lucrative state contract.

On April 12, of this year, the Kotayk Provincial Administration signed
a 70 million AMD road repair contract with a company owned by Minister
of Environmental Protection Ara Harutyunyan.

Harutyunyan’s company, Nayiri Road Construction, must now repair
municipal streets in the community of Getamedj as well as Abovyan
Street in Yeghvard. The contract specifies that the work must be
completed by the end of this month.

Arayik Harutyunyan, who runs the company and is the brother of the
minister, signed the deal with the Kotayk Provincial Administration.

There was no tender bid for the work.

Hetq tried to get in touch with Kotayk Governor Marzpet Gareginyan
to find out the criteria used for giving the contract to Nayiri
Road Construction.

Gareginyan’s office told us to submit our inquiry in written form.

Such a transaction would appear to contradict ethical laws on the
books regarding the behaviour of civil servants and high ranking
government officials regarding dealings with the private sector.

Such officials must go out of their way to avoid being perceived as
using their positions for private gain.

In this case, the exact opposite seems to have occurred.

ALEXANIAN INTENDS TO TURN KAPAN DEPARTMENT STORE INTO ‘YEREVAN CITY’

Friday,
June 07

About 70 vendors of a department store in the city of Kapan had to
leave their places and move to a market that – unlike the department
store – is not located in the center of the city. The decision was
taken hastily and vendors had only six days to move to the market,
“Zhamanak” daily writes.

According to the paper, deputy of Republican Party of Armenia (HHK)
parliamentary faction, businessman Samvel Alexanian bought the
department store in order to open a Yerevan City supermarket in Kapan.

Vendors held protests for several days and met with deputy governor
of Syunik province Vache Grigorian, but to no avail.

“By the way, until recently there was a poster with a photo of Suren
Kachatrian (De Facto magazine named him Governor of the Year) on
the building’s facade. The poster was removed following the June 1
incident in the city of Goris. Kapan residents expected the governor
to resign yesterday, otherwise they would have started protest actions
already yesterday,” the paper notes.

TODAY, 12:47

Aysor.am

FREEDOM FIGHTERS TO STAGE RALLY ON JUNE 16

June 7, 2013 – 12:57 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net – Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan met with a
group of freedom fighters rallying for pension increase.

Action participant Volodya Avetisyan told PanARMENIAN.Netthat Prime
Minister Sargsyan pledged to give an answer within a week.

“Prime Minister is concerned too. It will be clear in a week when the
government will be able to support the freedom fighters,” Mr.

Avetisyan said, announcing a decision to hold a rally on June 16.

ELECTRICITY PRICE GOES UP IN ARMENIA

June 07, 2013 | 13:07

YEREVAN. – The Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia
on Friday set new price for electricity sold to the consumers by
“Electricity Networks of Armenia” CJSC.

According to the decision, electricity will be supplied to consumers
at a price of 38 drams (approx. $0.09) per kilowatt and, in the
night hours, for 28 drams (approx. $0.07) per kilowatt (all prices
including VAT).

The decision will come into force from July 7, 2013.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

SCHMEIS LEARNED FROM INTERNET

One of the notorious Republican members of parliament Arakel Movsisyan
(nicknamed Schmeis) visited the veterans of war on a sit-in on Freedom
Square. Schmeis told Zhoghovurd: “I learned from the internet that
they are here. I was going to a birthday party so I thought I could
stop by to see how the guys are. We were together, we are friends.”

Schmeis is one of those people who “rose” during Karabakh war. After
the war he became a member of parliament, set up lots of businesses,
including casinos. He used to say that he was doing everything for
the sake of the nation. So, he learned from the internet about the
protesting guys and visited them on his way to the birthday party in
order to enjoy later the barbecue without remorse.

Protests of veterans spoiled the appetite and conscience of many
others. So far the veterans were silent but now they are already
demanding respect from the state and improvement of their quality of
life. Most of them are living in miserable conditions, deprived of
basic conveniences.

Once an effort was made to resolve the veterans’ issues through
Yerkrapah Union which used to have a certain “status” and was used
during elections and internal political events. Many of the ordinary
members could hardly make both ends meet while the leadership lived
in luxury, using the Yerkrapah members as tools and multiplying
their wealth.

With time passing, this function was lifted from Yerkrapah but the
state never assumed the task to attend to the issues of veterans.

Instead, the war has been a good chance for a group of people to get
high positions, titles and wealth, as well as immunity and privileges.

They even finally learned how to use the internet and suddenly saw
in what situation their “friends” are. Maybe they will try to use
them again.

Haik Aramyan 11:23 07/06/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

THE GEZI PARK, IS ANCIENT ARMENIAN PROPERTY

The yellow sign is written ” You destroyed our cemetery but you will
not destroy our park! “ARMENIAN TURKISH – NOR Zartonk

The Gezi Park, this highly symbolic place of freedom adopted by
the Istanbul youth Erdogan wants to eradicate to install in place a
barracks and a shopping center, every day that passes takes on the
appearance of Tahir Square (Liberation Square ) in Cairo.

Among the protesters, they are environmentalists and anarchists,
alongside the unlikely promiscuity with the Kemalists, are also young
Turkish-Armenian reminding anyone who will listen that this place
was once Armenian property.

Friday, June 7, 2013, Jean Eckian © armenews.com

IL N’Y A PAS DE PROBLÈME DANS LES RELATIONS ARMENO-RUSSES ET IL NE PEUT EN AVOIR

C’est ce qu’a declare le vice-ministre des AE, Chavarch Kotcharian,
a l’AN, commentant la question de l’augmentation du prix du gaz russe.

La cooperation armeno-russe, a-t-il rappele, est multiforme, basee
sur un solide fondement juridique comprenant plus de 170 traites
et accords. Le vice-Ministre des AE a par ailleurs categoriquement
rejete toute negociation secrète avec la Turquie, indiquant que de
telles informations sont avancees par les medias turcs et azeris a
des fins de propagande. / Hayots Achkhar, Hayastani Hanrapetoutioun

Extrait de la revue de presse de l’Ambassade de France en Armenie en
date du 31 mai 2013

vendredi 7 juin 2013, Stephane ©armenews.com

RUBEN SAHAKIAN MAY BE INVOLVED AS LAWYER OF TIGRAN KAHCHATRIAN

Wednesday,
June 05

Governor of Syunik province Suren Khachatrian asked Chairman of
the Chamber of Advocates of Armenia Ruben Sahakian to act as a
defense lawyer of this son Tigran Khachatrian, according to sources
of Aysor.am.

Ruben Sahakian refused to answer personal questions during a talk
with the correspondent of Aysor.am. He refused to give any details
of the case, noting that only when such an offer is made, he will
reflect on it. Sahakian also said that he will inform the public if
he accepts the offer.

Let us remind you that former candidate for Goris mayor Avetik
Budaghian was killed in the June 1 shooting outside the house of Syunik
province governor Suren Khachatrian. Avetik Budaghian’s brother, a
military unit’s commander Artak Budaghian, received a severe gunshot
wound and was taken to a military hospital. The governor’s bodyguard
Nikolai Abrahamian was also hospitalized.

The governor’s son Tigran Khachatrian and another bodyguard Zarzand
Nikoghosian have been arrested on suspicion of murder.

On June 3 Tigran Khachatrian and Zarzand Nikoghosian were charged under
three articles of Armenia’s Criminal Code: Article 104 part 2 point 6
(murder), Article 112 part 1 (willful infliction of heavy damage to
health), and Article 235 part 1 (illegal procurement, transportation,
keeping or carrying of weapons, explosives or explosive devices).

The Synik regional court of general jurisdiction granted the
investigatory body’s petition to use two months’ arrest as a measure
of restraint against Tigran Khachatrian and Zarzand Nikoghosian. They
were transferred to Nubarashen penal institution.

TODAY, 17:51

Aysor.am