Author: nina hovnanian

ITAR-TASS CONGRATULATES 94TH ANNIVERSARY OF ARMENPRESS

15:59, 18 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. General Director of the Russian news
agency ITAR-TASS Sergei Mikhailov sent a congratulatory message to
the Director of “Armenpress” news agency Aram Ananyan on the occasion
of 94th anniversary of the establishment.

Sergei Mikhailov stated: “I congratulate You and the whole staff of
the agency on the occasion of establishment of “Armenpress”. Please,
accept my warmest wishes. I wish You good health, happiness, and
serious successes in all Your undertakings. I also wish prosperity to
“Armenpress” as well.”

Among other things the General Director noted that he is hopeful that
ITAR-TASS and “Armenpress’ will continue development and strengthening
of their fraternal relations and productive coopetration in future.

“Armenpress” News Agency celebrates its 94th anniversary with
notable achievements. “Armenpress” was established on December 18. In
accordance with the decision of the National Council of the First
Republic of Armenia a state agency – Armenian Telegraph Agency was
created on this very day.

“Armenpress” has a number of subscribers both in Armenia and foreign
countries. Besides foreign mass media, among them are embassies,
international organizations, banks, financial structures, analytical
centers, institutes etc. Among the partners of “Armenpress” are
such leading agencies of the field as “ITAR-TASS”, “Reuters”,
“Xinhua”, and many others, which are cooperating with “Armenpress”
and exchanging information.

“ARMENPRESS” NEWS AGENCY TURNS 94

12:20, 18 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS. “Armenpress” News Agency celebrates
its 94th anniversary with notable achievements. “Armenpress” was
established on December 18. In accordance with the decision of the
National Council of the First Republic of Armenia a state agency –
Armenian Telegraph Agency was created on this very day.

During 90 years of its activity the Armenian Telegraph
Agency has had more than thirty directors. “Armenian Telegraph
Agency-Armenta-Armenpress” always reflected pains and interests of the
society. Alongside with the people the agency fought against Fascism,
gladly recorded the immigration of the Armenians during the post-war
period, as well as touched upon the events of the cultural life. The
agency has its separate professional photo-service since December,
1959, which became famous in a rather short period of time.

In accordance with the decision of the Government of the Republic of
Armenia dated to January 22, 1998, currently “Armenpress” News Agency
is acting as a Closed Joint Stock Company with its shares held by the
Government of the Republic of Armenia. Daily news items are issued in
Armenian, English and Russian. The agency has a rich information and
photo archive, which is a unique source of information on Armenian
and regional history.

“Armenpress” has a number of subscribers both in Armenia and foreign
countries. Besides foreign mass media, among them are embassies,
international organizations, banks, financial structures, analytical
centers, institutes etc.

Among the partners of “Armenpress” are such leading agencies of
the field as ITAR-TASS, Reuters, Xinhua, and many others, which are
cooperating with “Armenpress” and exchanging information.

BRUNT FOR JHANGIRYAN. THREE YOUNG MEN OF MATAGHIS ACQUITTED

Story from Lragir.am News:

15:01 18/12/2012

The Court of General Jurisdiction of Shirak has published the verdict
on the case of Mataghis. The court acquitted the three young men who
were accused of murder of their fellow conscript and were sentenced
for life. The Court of Cassation had sent this case for additional
investigation. The Court of Shirak acquitted the three young men.

Note that the case of Mataghis has lasted for nine years. The three
young men were accused of murdering their fellow conscript. The young
men denied their guilt and even the parents of the victim announced
that real murderers are at large, while they are scapegoated to cover
up the murder committed by the commanders.

The case was investigated by the military prosecutor’s office. At
that time the military prosecutor was Gagik Jhangiryan, now the head
of the human rights task force of the ANC.

The case is investigated anew.

PARLIAMENT PREREQUISITES: 2,080 BARS OF SOAP, 40 PLASTIC BUCKETS, 280 BOXES OF TISSUES…
Grisha Balasanyan

12:19, December 18, 2012

The Armenian government allocated 2,739,493 AMD ($6,765) to “maintain”
the National Assembly and MPs; 9,344,060 AMD ($23,000) for “household
and public food items”; and 23,580,000 AMD ($58,222) for social
assistance in the form of money.

We contacted Gourgen Doumanyan, National Assembly Chief of Staff,
to find out what exactly was purchased with these funds. It was
like pulling teeth. The first few responses were inadequate and not
concise. So we complained. Finally, the Public relations and media
Department sent a complete break-down of the expenditures.

The “maintenance” part of the allocation deals with the utilities
(water, gas, electric) used by the parliament during the year.

The “household and public foodstuffs” section deals with various
amenities and items purchased from suppliers.

For instance, 280 boxes of facial tissues were purchased at 1,300
AMD ($3.20) per box. 40 plastic buckets were purchased at 1,110 AMD
($2.70) per bucket. 2,080 bars of soap were purchased at 240 AMD
($.60) per bar. 1,400 sixty watt bulbs were purchased at 100 AMD
($.25) per bulb. And so forth.

As for the “social assistance” portion, each of the 131 MPs receive
a 15,000 AMD ($37) working allowance.

It would appear that MPs were personally cleaner in 2010 than this
year.

In 2010, the parliament purchased 2,400 bars of soap and 240 litres
of liquid soap.

The building itself was sparkling. In 2010, 300 brooms were purchased
for cleaning the offices and 400 for sweeping the courtyard.

ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS CALL FOR REVIEW OF MINISTER’S TRACK RECORD

hetq
13:09, December 18, 2012

A number of activist environmental groups in Armenia have again
called on the prime minister and prosecutor general to review the
performance of Minister of the Environment Aram Harutyunyan in order
to see whether he is the right man for the job.

The environmentalists argue that he isn’t and that under his watch
the natural resources of Armenia are be unnecessarily squandered for
purely commercial interests to the detriment of the environment.

The Trchkan, Khosrov Reserve, Jermuk and Teghout Civic Initiatives,
say they wrote to the prime minister and prosecutor general early
last month and haven’t received a response.

The groups argue that Armenia can enjoy sustained economic growth,
via a rational and conservative utilization of natural resources,
which is in harmony with nature.

MATAGHIS CASE A TEST FOR EVERY ONE OF US
Siranuysh Papyan

Story from Lragir.am News:

12:06 18/12/2012

Interview with singer Karen Hakobyan, member of Army in Reality
initiative group, Chairman of Hope NGO

Karen, in 2006, thanks to you the indictment of Razmik Sargsyan,
Musa Serobyan and Arayik Zalyan doubted for the murder of their fellow
conscript was voided. Now they are again accused, and today the court
decision will be announced.

The Mataghis case is a test for everyone. In 2005 I returned to Armenia
and saw on TV that a man was lying on the floor of the courtroom while
the court hearing continued. I found out that Razmik Sargsyan, accused
of murder, went on hunger strike claiming that they had obtained his
testimony through force. But the court refused to listen to him and
just wanted to let him die. Then the judge of the Court of Appeal
Argamanyan said: “Yes, I’m Pinochet”. In such cases, the question
is asked bluntly – do you exist as a society or not? How can such
a thing happen in a country which declares itself a modern state,
furthermore, it happens in the courtroom? We managed to have Razmik
taken to hospital, he needed treatment, and then the Minister of
Justice David Harutyunyan stated that the boy was healthy.

Then many understood the real situation in the army, just like people
started talking about impunity of murders committed by government
officials after Poghos Poghosyan’s murder in 2001. We have the
approximate figures: since 1994, 1500 conscripts have been killed. If
all these cases were investigated like the Mataghis case, then we
should add another 1000 people to those who were unjustly accused.

The Mataghis case is a daily job for us. We have brought together
sincere, romantic and decisive people and NGOs, and we have achieved
results thanks to their consolidation. There has been no case in
the history of Armenia when a lifer was freed from the courtroom. We
brought incontestable evidence that Razmik could not have been at the
crime scene at that moment. The Court of Cassation voided the verdict
of the Court of First Instance and ordered to review the case. I can’t
forget the cries of mothers who lost their sons in the army and their
curses in the address of the ex-military prosecutor Jhangiryan.

Though Gagik Jhangiryan is opposition now, he does not acknowledge
his guilt because the system may betray him. This is collective
responsibility which still carries out punitive functions. Then
Jhangiryan was the head, now Kostanyan is who has not changed the logic
and the strategy. They did not carry out a fair investigation, did not
provide new evidence, and it is not clear on what ground they replaced
life sentence to 7-8 years in prison. We need to do everything to
make sure the guys are freed and the fabricators of the case punished.

The army is the reflection of public relations: corruption, violence,
lack of justice, vulnerability, arbitrariness. Army is a unique
existential zone where people are absolutely defenseless. The army
remains a closed space. The society cannot influence the factors in
the army. Moreover, that violence is based on corruption.

In order to stop violence in the army the parliament should check
the army procurement for the past few years, and they will figure
out amazing figures and corruption. Besides, it is necessity to pay
attention to the education of army officers. After all, what’s going
on in the army is an important factor, and violence remains the only
weapon for men to support their opinion. But violence occurs when
the direct perpetrator and their superiors are not punished.

The key problem in the army is human rights. The system will not change
unless the old cases are reviewed, innocent people are acquitted and
those guilty are punished.

Last year, there were 70 non-combat victims, this year they were 35.

Does it change anything? I would like to hear the Supreme Commander
state that there will be no violence in the army and everyone will
be held responsible for their acts.

Today, the Mataghis case verdict will be issued in Gyumri, and if the
guys for whom the parents of the killed Movses are fighting are not
acquitted, it will mean the judicial system in Armenia is still based
on lies and violence and the authorities are unable to change anything.

But now, we – the civil society activists and others – are defending
the Mataghis guys. The Diaspora and other NGOs should join us. The
Human Rights Watch has already made a statement today. We should
fight until zero non-combat victims are reported in the Armenian army.

“UNFORTUNATELY WE CAN NOT ACHIEVE A BREAKTHROUGH SO FAR ON THE NAGRONO KARABAKH CONFLICT”, AZERBAIJANI FM

APA
Dec 17 2012
Azerbaijan

Baku. Victoria Dementyeva-APA. “Unfortunately we can not achieve a
breakthrough so far on the Nagrono Karabakh conflict. I say so far
because I believe that the conflict is doable”, said Azerbaijani
Foreign Minister Elmar Mammadyarov in his interview to Eureporter
in Brussels.

The Minister said that the Azerbaijani side believes and has always
tried to bring it to the Armenian side, that the status quo is
unacceptable.

He also noted that co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group have a similar
point of view on an unacceptability of status quo.

E. Mammadyarov said that the conflict is a threat to the development
and stability of the region.

Commenting on how Azerbaijan would have reacted to the change of
France as a co-chair of OSCE Minsk Group by the European Parliament,
E. Mammadyarov said that Azerbaijan has a policy of not-intervene in
the domestic policy of another state or another structure: “It is up to
them how to decide. For me, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs, which
territories are under occupation, the most important is the result. ”

SPORTS GROUNDS WILL BE BUILT IN VARIOUS REGIONS OF NKR

On 17 December President of the Artsakh Republic Bako Sahakyan received
chairman of the Armenia Football Union Rouben Hayrapetyan and Armenian
famous football player Henrikh Mkhitaryan. Central Information
Department of the Office of the Artsakh Republic President informs
about this.

Issues related to the development of sport in Artsakh, especially
football, were discussed at the meeting. An arrangement was reached
to build sports grounds in various regions of NKR.

Bako Sahakyan expressed gratitude to the Football Federation of
Armenia and Henrikh Mkhitaryan for assistance to the development of
sport and realization of various humanitarian projects in Artsakh.

17.12.12, 18:13

GREG AFSHARIAN TO JOIN THE PASADENA GENOCIDE MEMORIAL COMMITTEE

ASBAREZ
Monday, December 17th, 2012 | Posted by Contributor

Greg Afsharian

PASADENA-Greg Afsharian has been selected to join the Pasadena Armenian
Genocide Memorial Committee to bring his expertise into fulfilling the
coveted project’s much anticipated promise to the Armenian American
community in the City of Pasadena.

Afsharian was born and raised in Pasadena, California. He serves as a
Deacon for the Armenian Evangelical Brethren Church in Pasadena. Greg
is also a 23 year veteran of the Pasadena Police Department. He
holds the rank of Sergeant and is currently assigned to the Field
Operation Division-Patrol. In 1996, at the direction of then, Police
Chief Bernard Melekian,

Afsharian helped form PAPAC (Pasadena Armenian Police Advisory
Council). It is a collaboration of Pasadena Community Members of
Armenian descent who represent area church groups, businesses and
non-profit organizations. Greg is married and they have two children.

His wife is a teacher for the Pasadena Unified School District.

VREZH ZHAMHARYAN APPOINTED A LAWYER MEMBER OF THE COMMISSION OF ETHICS UNDER THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF NKR

12:50, 18 December, 2012

YEREVAN, DECEMBER 18, ARMENPRESS: Bako Sahakyan President of the
Republic of Armenia signed a decree on appointing Vrezh Zhamharyan
lawyer member of the commission of ethics under the Attorney General
of the Nagorno Karabagh Republic on 18 December.Central information
department of the office of the Artsakh Republic President informed
Armenpress.