Author: Kanayan Tamar

Armenian people should know more about their rights – Estonian Justice Minister

May 21, 2013 | 19:45

YEREVAN. – Armenian people should know more about their rights,
Estonian Justice Minister said.

During the Tuesday press conference in Yerevan, Hanno Pevkur said the
conditions to move forward with judiciary reforms in Armenia are quite
good.

`The question for me, and probably for the European Union, is not
legislation but implementation,’ he emphasized.

Speaking about judiciary reforms, he pointed out recording system in
courts which is another move to transparency.

The Minister said it is essential to answer a question whether you
trust judges and courts.

`To have that confidence and feeling, you have to have transparency,
normal system of rotation for judges, a good law and of course basic
rights for people,’ he said.

News from Armenia – NEWS.am

Demirchian: HAK will vote against new program of government

Tuesday,May 21

`Poverty and emigration have grown in Armenia in the past five years. The
new program of the government is absolutely no different from the old one,’
deputy of the opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) faction Stepan
Demirchian stated in the parliament today.

`The fact is that as a result of activities of the current government,
people are leaving the country because of the socioeconomic situation and
injustice. The socioeconomic situation will become even more difficult
following the gas price hike,’ Demirchian noted.

In his words, in order to mitigate the situation, the government cites the
global economic crisis that undoubtedly affected Armenia, but `the
government of the republic has acted inefficiently’.

`Drastic changes are necessary in our country. We cannot vote for adoption
of the government’s new program because there are no guarantees that this
program will be implemented,’ S. Demirchian said.

Russian FM: only parties concerned able to settle Karabakh issue

May 21, 2013 – 14:00 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – Azerbaijan and Armenia are both Russia’s neighbors,
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
At a joint press conference with his Azerbaijani counterpart Elmar
Mammadyarov, the Russian Minister noted stability in the Caucasus
region as a priority for his country’s foreign policy.

`Russia does its utmost to promote the conflict settlement in
different formats. We became a co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group,’ he
said, stressing the need to implement the basic principles.

`We will further foster the process. However, it’s clear that only the
parties concerned are able to settle the Nagorno Karabakh problem,’
Lavrov said, conditioning the complexity of the negotiations by the
complexity of the conflict.

Minister Lavrov said they will keep searching for a compromise, mid.ru
reported.

RGD-5 hand-grenade found in a bus in Armenia

ARMINFO
Tuesday, May 21, 11:32

The Emergency Situations Ministry of Armenia received an alarm at
12:47pm of May 20 saying that a grenade was found in a bus of the
route No54 in the village of Dashtavan, Ararat region, Armenia.

A truck crew and operative group of the regional rescuer department
arrived at the spot. The firemen and rescuers were on duty near the
bus from 12:50pm to 1:06pm. At 1:00pm the police deactivated the RGD-5
hand-grenade and moved it to a safe area.

Ex-PM Advises Government Not To Interfere With Gas Pricing

During the discussion of the program of government Member of
Parliament Hrant Bagratyan, ANC, called Tigran Sargsyan and the
cabinet not to interfere with the pricing of gas.

`The government only makes gas expensive. By drawing the attention of
the public to the border you are confusing us, saying that Armenia
buys gas at the cheapest price,’ Bagratyan said.

He noted that gas supplied to Armenia is not cheap, and gas price is
boosted due to 96% gas supply coverage of villages. Bagratyan also
said that the government’s analytical skills are weak.

Prime Minister Sargsyan said during the parliamentary hearing on the
gas price it will be presented in detail how the gas price is formed.
According to the prime minister, it is the mandate of the Public
Services Regulatory Commission, and their experts will explain how the
price is formed.

The prime minister said Belarus buys gas at the cheapest price. `The
Armenian side is negotiating over mechanisms of how Armenia could get
assistance from them to make sure that the levy of 30% is not applied
to Armenia,’ the prime minister said.

In answer to Bagratyan’s proposal on setting up a cooperative of gas
consumers Tigran Sargsyan said he would assign the minister of energy
and natural resources to discuss this issue with Hrant Bagratyan.

10:39 21/05/2013
Story from Lragir.am News:

ARMENIE
Le chef des douanes arméniennes lavé de tout soupçon

Gagik Khachatrian, le très controversé chef des Services des taxex et
douanes d’ Arménie, n’a pas abusé de ses fonctions et position à des
fins d’enrichissement personnel ou de ses proches, nd customs
services, a conclu le service qui avait mené l’enquête sur les
soupçons de corruption qui visaient le haut fonctionnaire arménien. La
Commission d’Etat sur l’Ethique des hauts fonctionnaires avait lance
l’enquête ne avril dernier, en réponse à une pétition du Centre
Anti-Corruption (ACC), branche arménienne de l’ONG basée à Berlin
Transparency International.

L’ACC s’appuyait en partie sur un article publié dans le quotidien
proche de l’opposition `Haykakan Zhamanak’ en octobre 2012. L’article
publiait la longue liste de compagnies susceptibles d’appartenir à
Khachatrian, ou auxquelles il est lié. Au nombre de ces sociétés, l’un
des principaux fournisseurs d’accès Internet et TV du pays, deux
compagnies important des produits alimentaires, un supermarché, un
concessionnaire de voitures et une boutique de montres de luxe à
Erevan. Selon `Haykakan Zhamanak,’ le chef du département des Revenus
de l’Etat (SRC) controôlerait aussi une compagnie qui a le monopole de
la fourniture de formulaires officiels utilisés par des milliers de
sociétés dans le pays.

La commission a conclu dans son rapport que Khachatrian ne possédait
officiellement aucune de ces societies. Elle notait néanmoins que deux
d’entre elles – la concessionaire de voitures Mitsubishi et la
compagnie importatrice de produits aliimentaires Apeyron –
appartenaient à ses enfants, quatre autres étant contrôlées par des
cousins. La commission, qui siege dans les locaux de l’administration
présidentielle à Erevan, a souligné que ce fait ne relevait pas du
conflit d’intérêts. Elle a fait valoir que Khachatrian n’avait pris
aucune decision au titre de chef du SRC qui aurait été susceptible de
bénéficier aux affaires enregistrées sous les noms de ses enfants. Une
simple « affaire familiale » donc, aux yeux des autorités arméniennes,
dont les conclusions ont toutefois été jugées peu convaincantes par
Sona Ayvazian, la vice-présidente de l’ACC, qui reproche notamment à
la commission de ne pas avoir mené une enquête approfondie sur les
privilèges dont auraient pu bénéficier l’intéressé et sa famille.

mardi 21 mai 2013,
Gari ©armenews.com

Heritage party calls on opposition to cut their ties with previous and
present authorities

16:09 – 19.05.13

Heritage party deputy leader Armen Martirosyan calls on opposition
forces to unite.

`I call on all opposition forces to cut their ties with the past and
present authorities and be open for the new ones,’ he said at the open
civil discussion today in Ani hotel.

He also urged to stop fighting with each other and join the demand of
the people and act together.

He stressed that the Heritage party will join the New Armenia
movement. `We really need to create structures in provinces, in all
the districts of Yerevan. We must really get prepared,’ he stressed.

Martirosyan voiced conviction that the it cannot be just a party’s
fight or just a civil one, but a multi-sided one.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Syria army ‘storms’ rebel town Qusair

14:37 – 19.05.13

Syrian government forces have surrounded the rebel stronghold of
Qusair and are storming it from several directions, says Syrian state
TV.

Fighting has gone on around the town, near the Lebanese border, for weeks.

Syrian opposition activists said government air strikes and heavy
shelling had killed at least 16 people in the town so far.
Opposition groups say militants from the Lebanese Hezbollah movement
are fighting alongside government forces.

There are also reports that hundreds of Lebanese Sunni militants have
joined the fight on the rebels’ side, says the BBC’s Jim Muir, in
Beirut.

Armenian News – Tert.am

Human life is not worth anything for Armenia’s authorities – Tigran Khzmalyan

13:42 – 19.05.13

Member of Pre-parliament initiative Tigran Khzmalyan says the
situation in all the spheres of the country shows that the explosion
of the ruling system is unavoidable.

He said the murders in the army are not extraordinary; the
extraordinary thing is when a parent is forced to go to demand justice
with the corpse of his son. `The incident that took place in the army
is not an extraordinary thing, the extraordinary thing is that the
parent does not keep silence and goes to demand justice with the
corpse of his son,’ he said speaking to Tert.am.

Relatives of Luxe Stepanyan, murdered in one of the units of
Noyemberyan, by his fellow conscript tried to bring his body to
Yerevan and express their complaint in front of the government
building. The Defense Ministry’s divisions closed Yerevan-Sevan
highway not to allow them enter the capital. Defense Minister Seyran
Ohanyan and Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan rushed there to talk to
the parents and persuade them not to do it.

`Each new incident approaches the explosion, it is unavoidable. We
cannot be sure that tomorrow such case will not be registered,’ he
said, enumerating the recent cases that have driven the people to
despair – regular cases of violence in the army, the yesterday’s case,
hail, gas tariff growth, strike of freedom fighters. `No sphere has
been left,’ he said, adding that it shows that Armenia will turn into
a fireball.

`It is not the issue of the army only but it shows how life is valued
in Armenia. Human life is not worth anything for these authorities,’
he stressed.

TURQUIE
La construction de la liaison ferroviaire Kars-Tbilissi-Bakou est suspendue

La construction du chemin de fer Kars-Tbilissi-Bakou, qui prévoit de
contourner l’Arménie, est suspendu indéfiniment, a déclaré Ensar Ogut
un député du principal parti d’opposition le Parti du peuple
républicain (CHP).

Le député turc a fait remarquer que la construction est interrompu et
que les autorités turques sont responsables de ce développement.

« Je demande au président azerbaïdjanais, aux autorités géorgiennes,
et aux personnes en charge du projet, de tenir une réunion assez
rapidement et d’accélérer l’achèvement du chemin de fer Kars-Tbilissi.
Le chemin de fer aurait dû ouvrir en 2013, mais même les années 2014
et 2015 soulèvent des doutes » a noté Ensar Ogut qui a souligné qu’une
fois la liaison Kars-Tbilissi-Bakou ouverte, le fret ferroviaire de la
Turquie va augmenter de 20 millions de tonnes.

dimanche 19 mai 2013,
Stéphane ©armenews.com