Author: Kanayan Tamar

HRANT DINK CASE: FORMER JUDGE SAYS HE “DID WHAT THE LAW REQUIRED”

NEWS | 10.12.12 | 14:43

A former judge says the Turkish court verdict in the case of murdered
Armenian journalist Hrant Dink may not have been “correct”.

Nihat Omeroglu, who was recently elected to the position of Turkey’s
Human Rights Defender by the country’s parliament, was one of 18
Appeals Court judges who sided with a lower court in ruling that
there was no conspiracy in the 2007 assignation of Dink outside his
newsroom office.

According to T24.com website, Omeroglu argued that he upheld the
verdict against the objections of the Dink family because that was
what the law at the time required. “The law changed in 2008. I’m not
saying that I did what was correct by upholding Hrant Dink’s ruling,
but that was what the law required at the time,” he stated.

Omeroglu’s election as Turkey’s ombudsman caused a strong reaction
among the country’s progressive society. Turkish main opposition
Republican People’s Party (CHP) and pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy
Party (BDP) MPs protested at the parliament while Omeroglu took his
oath of office there.

SERZH SARGSYAN MET WITH THE REPRESENTATIVES OF ARMENIAN REVOLUTIONARY FACTION

2012-12-10 11:44:14

On December 8, the ARF Bureau representative Hrant Margaryan and a
representative of Supreme Body of Armenia Armen Rustamyan met with
RA president Serzh Sargsyan.

A long discussion took place on Armenia’s state-public and political
life of radical reform and improve, about the proposed seven-point
provisions of ARF.

According to the press office of ARF, in the result of the meeting,
the Parties decided to continue the consultations.

OMBUDSMAN’S OFFICE HAS RECEIVED 5,600 COMPLAINTS

news.am
December 10, 2012 | 13:04

YEREVAN.- Armenian Ombudsman’s office has received 5,600 complains
from citizens willing to restore their rights since the beginning of
the year.

The office provided consultations, Ombudmsan Karen Andreasyan said,
adding that 2,290 complaints are being investigated. The major part
of complains referred to police, Labor Ministry, Justice Ministry,
Defense Ministry and Yerevan municipality.

Agreeing with most of the complaints, some state agencies, however,
in some cases, disagreed and refused to restore the violated rights
of citizens.

PRESS RELEASE
Catholicosate of Cilicia
Communication and Information Department
Tel: (04) 410001, 410003
Fax: (04) 419724
E- mail: [email protected]
Web:

PO Box 70 317
Antelias-Lebanon

HIS HOLINESS ARAM I ATTENDS THE FUNERAL SERVICE OF
PATRIARCH IGNATIUS HAZIM IV OF ANTIOCH AND ALL THE EAST

On Sunday 10 December 2012. His Holiness Aram I attended the Funeral Service
of the late Patriarch Hazim IV at the St. Nicholoas Church in Beirut. The
Catholicos had earlier conveyed his condolences to the clergy and the laity
of the Greek Orthodox community, through Metropolitan Elias Audeh of Beirut.

Upon his return from the Service, His Holiness Aram I said that the late
Patriarch was a great believer in the ecumenical movement, and he personally
appreciated working with the deceased both during the formation of the
ecumenical movement and later by providing leadership as Heads of Churches.

BIAnet.org, Turkey
Dec 7 2012

Google Report Reveals Turkish Government’s Biggest Fears

Turkey is topping the list in the number content ban requests among
OECD countries, with most complaint made on state criticism and porn.

A. Murat Eren

Every six months Google releases reports concerning content ban
requests from national governments. Yesterday I came across the latest
report for 2012.

Turkish web users would not be surprised to see that Turkey made the
most ban requests in the world, I guess. Though, it is still tragic to
see Turkey only topping the list among OECD countries when it comes to
“content ban requests” and not when it comes to criteria such as
education, health, employment, etc. But hold on. There is more.

Google divided all ban requests into categories like “slander”, “hate
crime”, “violence”, “national security” and “state criticism”. I think
you can see where I am heading. I checked why countries made their ban
requests. And obviously, Turkey topped the list for “state criticism”!

The worse is that when we look at other countries, “state criticism”
requests are hardly the top priority. The complaint hardly finds its
itself in country lists such as UK (#7), France (#10), Germany (#9),
Spain (#7), US (#7) and India (#6).

This made me curious about what ban requests were made by other
countries. It’s not appropriate to make any of ban requests anyway but
it is an interesting way to see what preoccupies governments all over
the world.

Here are the results:

* US: “Slander”, “Privacy and Security”

* Argentina: “Slander”, “Privacy and Security”

* Canada: “Slander”, “Privacy and Security”

* Germany: “Slander”, “Hate Speech”

* Italy: “Slander”, “Copyrights”

* Japan: “Slander”, “Privacy and Security”

* France: “Privacy and Security”, “Slander”,

* UK: “National Security”, “Privacy and Security”

* Australia: “Privacy and Security”, “Copyrights”

* Russia: “National Security”, “Slander”

* Spain: “Privacy and Security”, “Slander”

* Holland: “Slander”, “Privacy and Security”

* Brazil: “Copyrights”, “Slander”

* Hong Kong: “Copyrights”

* India: “Privacy and Security”, “Slander”

* South Korea: “Privacy and Security”, “Slander”

What about Turkey? Here’s Turkey’s most frequent ban requests:

* Turkey: “Pornographic Content”, “State criticism”

If you feel alone, let me relieve you: The only other country with
“state criticism” as one of its most frequent ban requests is
Thailand, where the oppressing regime took more than 30,000 lives of
human rights activists since 1947.

I can hear some of you say, “AKP government can’t accept criticism,
this is why we are here”, but it’s not the only thing unfortunately.
The real point is about how we left the authority keep an eye on us
for so long. We couldn’t criticize the military a couple of years ago.
Even now, there is an “Ataturk taboo” protected by grotesque laws. The
real issue is about the authority per se that becomes more oppressive
with time. AKP is temporary in that sense.

When government officials accuse the jailed journalists for being
guilty, we say, “they are terrorists anyways”. I recommend all of you
to rethink about why we need journalists who interrogate government
policies and become the voices of the unheard.

Check out the map again. The big circle belongs to a country that
claims to be a “super force” and a genuine democracy in its region. It
is indeed an unsatisfied child obsessed with porn and who sends
letters to Internet providers to ban all content questioning his
childish authority. (AME/HK)

Another case of large-scale fraud sent to the court

Sat, 12/08/2012 – 18:59

The criminal case on large-scale fraud initiated by the Protection of
State Interests Department of the RA Prosecutor General’s Office and
investigated in the RA SIS was sent to the Court General Jurisdiction
of Center and Norq Marash administrative districts of Yerevan with
accusation conclusion.

As `Pastinfo.am’ was informed by the RA SIS on the grounds of the
evidence obtained during the preliminary investigation Gagik Papoyan
and Simon Aghazaryan were charged in accordance with Article 178
Section 3 Clause 1 of the RA Criminal Code, i.e. large-scale fraud.
Detention was chosen as a preventive measure against them. More than
400 people were interrogated during the preliminary investigation of
the case, 258 were found injured in the case.

The preliminary investigation revealed that a private businessman, the
President of `Gapbnakshin’, `Narek-Davit’, `Narekgrad’ LLCs Gagik
Papoyan realized an enrapture of the property of a number of citizens
of particularly big sizes by deception and abuse of trust in the
amount of AMD 10.202.947.840, out of which AMD 1.253.891.550 was
enraptured with the colleague Simon Aghazaryan. (The President of the
`Narek Shelter’ LLC A. Aghazaryan came to light in connection with
another case of a large-scale appropriation and was sentenced to 7
years of imprisonment).

The civil plaints presented on the criminal case, the possible
property arrest and for covering the judicial expense, the whole
private and company property of `Gapbnakshin’, `Narek-Davit’,
`Narekgrad’ LLC’s was placed under arrest.

Besides the criminal activities ascribed to the defendants on the
criminal case Gagik Papoyan and Simon Aghazaryan, other criminal
activities were also disclosed: enrapture of the property of a
particularly big size by Mesrop Sahakyan, as well as regarding the
preparing and selling fake documents on the basis of the preliminary
agreement with Karen Karapetyan and Meghedi Mardirosyan. New criminal
cases were initiated in this respect on the grounds of Article 178
Section 3 Clause 1 and Article 325 Section 2 of the RA Criminal Code,
the criminal cases were sent to the General Investigation Department
of the RA Police.

ÕÕ¥Õ²Õ«Õ¶Õ¡Õ¯:
Factinfo

United Press International UPI
Dec 9 2012

Iran says Azerbaijan is spying

TEHRAN, Dec. 9 (UPI) — Azerbaijan is using drones to conduct spying
missions on its border with Iran and Nagomo-Karabakh, Iran’s Press TV
reported Sunday.

Orbiter ultra-light drones assembled with Israeli help as well as the
Hermes-450 — Israeli-made unmanned aerial vehicles “for control and
surveillance missions” — are being used, the television report said.
Iranians also claim Israeli military experts are in Azerbaijan to
assist in the operations.

Israel’s relations, particularly in the intelligence and military
fields, with the predominantly Muslim Caspian country have been
growing for several years.

In February, Jerusalem and Baku signed a $1.6 billion deal under which
Israel will sell drones and anti-aircraft and missile defense systems
to Azerbaijan.

Between 2009 and 2012, Israel sold 10 Hermes-450 drones to Azerbaijan,
Press TV said.

The Times in London reported earlier this year that Israel uses
Azerbaijan as a base for covert operations against Iran, which Tehran
claimed included assassinating its nuclear scientists.

Interfax, Russia
Dec 8 2012

Presidential elections in Armenia scheduled for February 18, 2013

YEREVAN. Dec 8

Presidential elections in Armenia will be held on February 18, 2013,
Armenian Central Elections Commission (CEC) Chairman Tigran Mukuchian
told journalists on Saturday.

The CEC will hold an extraordinary session on Saturday to endorse the
timeline of the key events related to the presidential campaign, he
said.

February 18 will be made a non-working day.

None of potential candidates has so far officially declared their
nomination. Members of the ruling Republican Party said earlier that
incumbent President Serzh Sargsyan would be nominated for reelection
at a party congress on December 15.

va

China Post
Dec 10 2012

Oscars mixed up in Armenian feud

YERAVAN, Armenia–Armenia’s entry for Best Foreign Film at the Academy
Awards was conceived as a story of how humanity triumphs over
prejudice. But since it also deals with Azerbaijan, it has become yet
another element in the toxic feud between the two nations.

The film, `If Only Everyone,’ tells the story of an Armenian man who
helps a half-Russian, half-Armenian woman go to her father’s grave and
plant a tree there. The father died in the early-1990s conflict over
Nagorny Karabakh, which pitted Armenians against Azerbaijanis.

Since a cease-fire was signed in 1994, Karabakh has been controlled by
an Armenian administration. No peace deal has been signed, and little
progress has been made toward an agreement on a final status for
Karabakh. The Armenians – who call the disputed territory Artsakh –
are not prepared to cede control, while Azerbaijan demands the
restoration of sovereignty over Karabakh.

The film’s protagonists have to cross over the front line from
Armenian-held to Azerbaijani-held territory. There they befriend a
local shepherd, an Azerbaijani, who asks them to plant a tree on his
son’s grave when they return to the Armenian side.

`This story perhaps touches on the most sensitive issue for our nation
today – Artsakh. Why did people die, what was the war about, what
motivated the heroic deeds? Some have found the answers; others are
still searching,’ a synopsis on the film’s website says. `But these
questions eclipse the real lives of real people, who we often think
about the least, unfortunately.’

It is the fourth work that Armenia’s film academy has submitted for
consideration for an Oscar, but the first to be officially nominated.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences accepts a single
submission from each country for the best foreign-language film prize,
and its members vote for a shortlist and then the winner. This year, a
record 71 films have been accepted as submissions, including entries
from Azerbaijan.

In Azerbaijan, writer Elchin Huseynbayli, has stepped forward to
insist that the idea for the film was stolen from his 2010 story
`Dazzled by the Sun.’ He described his story in an interview on the
website ann.az. `The story I wrote goes like this: an ailing
Azerbaijani doctor enters the occupied territories of Karabakh to
fulfill his grandfather’s wishes by planting a tree in the yard of his
house. The hero wants to see his father’s grave, but the territory is
controlled by the Armenians and they take him prisoner. However, after
long negotiations, they allow him to fulfill his wish.

`They used my story, but changed it to favor themselves. If you watch
the film you’d think we are occupying Armenian land, when in fact it’s
our land that’s occupied, and they are the occupiers. … More than
half of the film coincides fully with my story.’

Huseynbayli has asked Azerbaijan’s copyright agency to contact the
academy and tell them the film is not an original work. It’s not yet
known if they will comply with his request.

Michael Poghosyan, who wrote the screenplay for `If Only Everyone,’
insists the movie was conceived before Huseynbayli’s story was
published.

`The story for the film was written in early 2010, and filming began
in spring 2010. Before we wrote the story, we met people who had lived
through the war. It was after our meetings and talks with these people
that the idea of the film was born,’ he said. `We could similarly
accuse the Azerbaijanis of stealing the story of our film ‘Longing,’
where the main hero crossed a border to die in his homeland,’ he said.

Armenia’s potential presidential candidate has interesting past – newspaper

December 08, 2012 | 08:20

YEREVAN. – Armenia’s opposition Free Democrats Party Vice Chairwoman,
and potential presidential candidate, Anush Sedrakyan has a very
noteworthy past, Zhoghovurd daily reports.

`At one time she used to be [second President] Robert Kocharyan’s
reviewer, subsequently, [National Security Council Secretary and the
coalition government’s junior member Orinats Yerkir (Rule of Law)
Party (RLP) Chairman] Arthur Baghdasaryan’s aide, in the years when he
[that is, Baghdasaryan] worked as [National Assembly] NA Speaker. At
the same time Sedrakyan’s assistance was teaching English to
Baghdasaryan.

Today, however, the former close relations do not exist. `We were in
practical and working interactions,’ Sedrakyan told Zhoghovurd. And
she considers normal the teaching of English to former NA Speaker. `I
believe if a person is a lecturer by profession, it is very normal,”
Zhoghovurd writes.