Author: Torosian Aram

SARGIS HATSPANIAN REMAINS IN CUSTODY

argis-hatspanian
September 23, 2009

Sargis Hatspanian, a French-Armenian opposition activist and a hero
of the Artsakh War, remains in captivity.

Remind that some documents certifying that Hatspanian was a Karabakh
war veteran were to be submitted for defendant Hatspanian to be freed
under the amnesty bill of July 19.

Both the Defense Ministry and Justice Ministry said there were no
documents available in their archives certifying to Hatspanian’s
participation in the Karabakh war.

"The legal grounds Hatspanain has are more than sufficient to amnesty
the defendant," says Advocate Robert Revazian.

"The public has no doubts that Hatspanian fought for Karabakh’s
liberalization: there are witnesses and video reports. People assume
that what happens to Hatspanian is a manifestation of political
revenge," says the advocate.

The amnesty is applied to all detainees sentenced to five years’
imprisonment who participated in liberalization wars.

A Yerevan court sentenced Sargis Hatspanian to 3.5 years’ imprisonment
for false denunciation on April 9, 2009.

The arrest followed his interview of November 3, 2008, to opposition
daily Haykakan Zhamanak in which Sargis Hatspanian claimed the head
of state was a target of an imminent assassination attempt.

FROM ARMENIA TO VENEZUELA: 28 FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM SUBMISSIONS (AND COUNTING)

Indie Wire
Sept 23 2009

A scene from Jacques Audiard’s "The Prophet." Image courtesy of Sony
Pictures Classics.The full submission list isn’t released until
October, but twenty-eight countries have now officially submitted
films to the 82nd Annual Academy Awards’ foreign-language category,
and indieWIRE has decided to start keeping tabs.

Listed below is an up-to-date rundown of the announced films, including
yesterday’s announcement of Xavier Dolan’s "I Killed My Mother" as
Canada’s selection, and recent picks by high-profile countries like
France’s "A Prophet," directed by Jacques Audiard and Germany’s "The
White Ribbon," directed by Michael Haneke (between the two countries,
fifty nominations have been accumulated the category). A few of the
films have links to an indieWIRE film page, though in the coming
weeks we should have them featured extensively across the list.

Check back for anticipated announcements from countries like Israel
(where Venice Film Festival winner "Lebanon" seems like a likely
candidate) and Spain (where Pedro Almodovar’s "Broken Embraces"
has already been ruled out), and feel free to the use the comments
section to make predictions or express outrage.

A scene from Xavier Dolan’s "I Killed My Mother." Image courtesy of
Regent Releasing.Films submitted for consideration in the Academy
Awards’ 2009 foreign language film category:

Armenia – Autumn of the Magician, directed by Ruben & Vahe Gevorkyants

Austria – Ein Augenblick Freiheit (For a Moment, Freedom), directed
by Arash T. Riahi

Brazil – Salve Geral, directed by Sergio Rezende

Bulgaria – The World is Big and Salvation Lurks Around the Corner,
directed by Stephan Komandarev

Canada – I Killed My Mother, directed by Xavier Dolan

Chile – Dawson, Isla 10, directed by Miguel Littín

Finland – Postia Pappi Jaakobille (Letters to Father Jacob), directed
by Klaus Haro

France – A Prophet, directed by Jacques Audiard

Germany – The White Ribbon, directed by Michael Haneke

Hong Kong – Prince of Tears, directed by Yonfan

Hungary РKam̩leon (Chameleon), directed by Kristzina Goda

India – Harishchandrachi Factory, directed by Paresh Mokashi,

Japan – Dare Mo Mamotte Kurenai (Nobody To Watch Over Me), directed
by Ryôichi Kimizuka

Kazakhstan – Kelin, directed by Ermek Tursunov

Korea – Mother, directed by Bong Jong-ho

Lithuania – Duburys (Waterhole), directed by Gytis Luksas

Morocco – Casanegra, directed by Nour Eddine Lakhmari

The Netherlands – Wit Licht (Silent Army), directed by Jean van
der Velde

Poland – Rewers (The Reverse), directed by Borys Lankosz

Portugal – Um Amor de Perdicão (Doomed Love), directed by Mário
Barroso

Romania – Police, Adjective, directed by Corneliu Prumboiu

Serbia – St. George Shoots the Dragon, directed by Srdjan Dragojevic

Slovenia – Pokrajina St. 2 (Landscape No 2), directed by Vinko
Moderndorfer

South Africa – White Wedding, directed by Jann Turner

Sri Lanka – Akasa Kusum (Flowers in the Sky), directed by Prasanna
Vithanage

Sweden – De Ofrivilliga (Involuntary), directed by Ruben Ostlunds

Taiwan – No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (I Can’t Live Without You), directed
by Leon Dai

Venezula – Libertador Morales, El Justiciero, directed by Efterpi
Charalambidis

GABRIEL SARGSYAN HOLDS HIS SECOND CONSECUTIVE VICTORY IN INVENTICHESS-2009

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
23.09.2009 17:28 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In the 5th round of 15th category Inventichess-2009
tournament held in Antverpen, Belgium, Armenian grand master Gabriel
Sargsyan got the upper hand over England’s David Howell, thus
holding his second victory. Armenian grand master’s first victory
was registered in match against Antoaneta Stefanova (Bulgaria).

Let’s note that in the first round, Sargsyan defeated Etienne Bacrot
(France) while in the 2nd and 3rd rounds he played drawn games with
Israel’s Emil Sutovski and Poland’s Bartosh Sochko respectively.

Having earned 3 points after the 5 rounds, Sargsyan now shares 3rd-4th
positions of tournament table together with Slovenia’s Anna Muzychuk.

Sole tournament leader is Emil Sutovski who defeated Holland’s Yana
Timman thus earning 4 points. Etienne Bacrot who has 3.5 points
comes next.

During the 6th round Gabriel Sargsyan will compete against Indian
grand master Krishnan Sasikiran.

5th round results:

Emil Sutovsky (Israel) – Yan Timman (Holland) – 1:0 Bartosh Sochko
(Poland) – Krishnan Saskiran (India) 1:0 Gabriel Sargsyan (Armenia) –
David Howell (England) – 1:0 Etienne Bacrot (France) – Bart Michels
(Belgium) – 0.5:0.5 Anna Muzychuk (Slovenia) – Antoaneta Stefanova
(Bulgaria) – 0.5:0.5

Standing:

Sutovsky – 4 Bacrot – 3.5 Sargsyan, Muzychuk – 3 Sasikiran, Stefanova,
Sochko – 2.5 Michels – 1 Timman – 1.5 Howell – 0.5.

THE OPENING OF THE NEW ADMINISTRATIVE SUBSIDIARY BUILDING OF A HEADQUARTER

2&p=0&id=991&y=2009&m=09&d=24
22.09.09

On the 22nd of September the RA Minister of Defence Seyran Ohanyan
left for Vanadzor for the opening of the administrative subsidiary
building of the headquarter of the 3rd Army Corps of the RA Armed
Forces. He was accompanied by the Chief of the RA AF GS Colonel-General
Yuri Khachaturov, deputy chief of the GS Lieutenant-General Arshaluys
Paytyan, commander of the 3rd Army Corps Major-General Levon Eranosyan,
the governers of the regions of Lori and Tavush, the mayor of Vanadzor
and by high ranked militants.

After the opening ceremony the Minister of Defence congratulated the
officers and the administrative workers for the Independence Day and
for the new opening. He wished everyone personal happiness and success,
stating that the new building – the comfortable working conditions
– will help accomplish the most important functions and tasks in a
higher level.

"There is no doubt that Independence is our biggest achievement,
in which today’s militants have had their input, too. However, this
achievement also needs to be preserved, especially, that we are not at
war now, thus, the direct impact of the enemy is not apparent. Hence,
let us use the chance fully, by working and appreciating the work. The
enemy is not asleep – he is improving. For this reason, we also need
to improve to give a worthy counterblow in case of aggression. Let no
one be alarmed by the warlike announcements of the Azerbaijanis, by
the budgetary and quantitative hysteria, etc. Should it be necessary,
our army is capable of putting an end to the dreams of war by a swift
attack and impetuous activities", said Seyran Ohanyan. The Minister
also added that the officers, by their personal example and work,
as well as by giving a proper appreciation to good deeds, can only
abolish the indifference and the shortcomings that have been notice
in some of the officers and soldiers.

At the end of the ceremony the Minister of Defence Seyran Ohanyan,
the Chief of the RA AF GS Colonel-General Yuri Khachaturov, chiefs
of the MoD and GS departments and the high ranked guests took a
tour in the newly built headquarter, they visited the rooms and the
conference-hall.

YERKIR UNION
EUrope
Mail: [email protected]
Web:

ARMENIA
Contact: Robert Tatoyan
Mobile: +374 94 36 17 93
Email: [email protected]
Web:

PRESS-RELEASE
14 september 2009

Sylvie Guillaume, MEP, has questioned the European authorities about Vahagn
Chakhalyan

The Yerkir Union informs you of Sylvie Guillaume’s approach to Benita
Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations, on Vahagn
Chakhalyan’s case, who’s the leader of the Democratic Alliance Javakhk Uni
and is sentenced to 10 years in prison in Georgia.

YERKIR Union

European Parliament
Sylvie Guillaume

N / Ref. : SG/LB/09-14

Benita Ferrero-Waldner
Commissioner for External Relations

Strasbourg September 15, 2009

Madam,

I would like to alert you on the situation of the ethnic and religious
minorities living in Georgia who are victims of discrimination.

Most particularly, the Armenian minority suffers language, social and
religious discrimination. The region, where the armenian minority
constitutes a majority, is heavily deficient of transit roads, energy,
health and social services.

One of the ethnic armenian leaders of Georgia, Vahagn Chakhalyan, was
arrested in July 2008 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for largely
questionable charges.

The peaceful demands of his movement are neither independentist nor
autonomist and seek recognition of the civil rights of the Armenian minority
in Georgia, when that country conducts a policy of assimilation since the
dismantling of the Russian military bases in 2005.

Vahagn Chakhalyan was transferred from his prison in Tbilisi in a prison in
another town, 30 km away, where he feares for his safety, while his appeal
is still pending.

His appeal is scheduled to resume on Friday but the procedures of arrest,
investigation and trial at the court of 1st instance were interspersed with
major violations by the judiciary (Justice of Georgia has even denied him
the right to have a French lawyer). We cannot leave the Georgian authorities
act in contravention of the international conventions on the right to a fair
trial, all the more so as Georgia, under EU funding and by the European
Neighborhood Policy, has received 15 Million Euro paid for "justice
reforms."

Could you engage the EU representation in Tbilisi for the observation of the
trial? Is there no need to account to the Georgian authorities on the use of
the funds intended to improve the functioning of the judiciary system and to
consider the legislation to encourage Georgia to meet its commitments?

Please accept, Madam, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Sylvie Guillaume

LEGITIMACY WILL BE GAINED BY SIGNING THE PROTOCOLS, SAYS ARF-D LEADER

Tert
Sept 22 2009
Armenia

ARF-D Leader Vahan Hovhannisyan stated today that he has concerns
that President of the Republic of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan will sign
the document on Armenian-Turkish relations on October 13.

"I see that he [Serzh Sargsyan] is more prone to signing the document,
than not signing. And I see that it will be very difficult to make
any changes. I am afraid, he will sign…"

Hovhannisyan added, however, that doesn’t mean that we have to
withdraw, without noting whom he meant by "we".

In answer to a journalist’s question regarding what steps ARF-D will
take in that case, Hovhannisyan said, "The time will come, then we
will see."

"I see two options here, either you have already secretly signed the
document and don’t announce it, which is the least likely, or you
wish to sign the document so much, that you are ready to cheat your
own nation in order to reach that goal," Hovhannisyan stated.

The ARF-D representative stubbornly continued to manoeuvre away from
discussing Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation or responding to questions
of the like.

"Our aim is to eat walnus. It’s not necessary to beat the guard
protecting the garden where the walnuts grow. One can eat walnuts
without beating the guard…"

In answer to Tert.am’s question, what is his position on the idea
voiced recently that illegitimate authorities, resulting from last
year’s questionable presidential elections, cannot legitimize the
document by signing it and perhaps if he thinks that signing the
document ratifying Armenian-Turkish relations has an aim of gaining
that legitimacy, Hovhannisyan answered:

"To take comfort in the fact that the signatory is illegitimate
is meaningless, because as soon as he signs, he will become quite
legitimate. You can be sure of that.

"As for gaining legitimacy, yes, I agree that, unfortunately, it is
not excluded that readiness for such a concession can be explained
also by the wish to strengthen one’s position," Hovhannisyan concluded.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT HAD A TELEPHONE TALK WITH US SECRETARY OF STATE HILLARY CLINTON

ArmInfo
2009-09-21 11:59:00

ArmInfo. On 19 September Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had a
telephone talk with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

As press-service of the president reported, over the talk they touched
on the problems regarding the present stage of normalization of the
Armenian-Turkish relations.

RA-TURKISH DIALOGUE FAILURE CAN BRING TO SERIOUS CONSEQUENCES

/PanARMENIAN.Net/
18.09.2009 19:07 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Well-known politologist, Head of Democracy and
Collaboration Institute, New York Department Andranik Mihranyan
gave positive assessment to RA-Turkish rapprochement protocols. "The
documents are not ideal, but I know how hard it is find a solution
to satisfy both parties," politologist emphasized.

According to him, Armenia almost managed to achieve its maximum while
dealing with a mighty state like Turkey.

"Sure, what Armenia has achieved today was due to active participation
of Washington and Moscow," Andranik Mihranyan noted, adding that
certain forces both in Turkey and Armenia will be opposed to protocols’
conclusion. Still, normalization carries a strategic nature, so
RA-Turkish dialogue failure can bring to serious consequences. "Both
parties are at the point which could lead to more complicated issues’
settlement," he stated.

SYLVIE GUILLAUME, MEP, HAS QUESTIONED THE EUROPEAN AUTHORITIES ABOUT VAHAGN CHAKHALYAN

armradio.am
17.09.2009 15:31

Member of the European Parliament Sylvie Guillaume has sent a letter to
Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations,
on Vahagn Chakhalyan’s case, who’s the leader of the United Javakhk
Democratic Alliance and is sentenced to 10 years in prison in
Georgia. The letter reads:

"I would like to alert you on the situation of the ethnic and religious
minorities living in Georgia who are victims of discrimination.

Most particularly, the Armenian minority suffers language, social
and religious discrimination. The region, where the Armenian minority
constitutes a majority, is heavily deficient of transit roads, energy,
health and social services.

One of the ethnic Armenian leaders of Georgia, Vahagn Chakhalyan,
was arrested in July 2008 and sentenced to 10 years in prison for
largely questionable charges.

The peaceful demands of his movement are neither independentist
nor autonomist and seek recognition of the civil rights of the
Armenian minority in Georgia, when that country conducts a policy
of assimilation since the dismantling of the Russian military bases
in 2005.

Vahagn Chakhalyan was transferred from his prison in Tbilisi in a
prison in another town, 30 km away, where he fears for his safety,
while his appeal is still pending.

His appeal is scheduled to resume on Friday but the procedures of
arrest, investigation and trial at the court of 1st instance were
interspersed with major violations by the judiciary (Justice of Georgia
has even denied him the right to have a French lawyer). We cannot leave
the Georgian authorities act in contravention of the international
conventions on the right to a fair trial, all the more so as Georgia,
under EU funding and by the European Neighborhood Policy, has received
15 Million Euro paid for "justice reforms."

Could you engage the EU representation in Tbilisi for the observation
of the trial? Is there no need to account to the Georgian authorities
on the use of the funds intended to improve the functioning of the
judiciary system and to consider the legislation to encourage Georgia
to meet its commitments?"

ARMENIAN DEPUTY FOREIGN MINISTER AND RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR MEET ON STRENGTHENING STRATEGIC COOPERATION

Tert.am
Sept 16 2009
Armenia

Deputy Foreign Minister of the Republic of Armenia Shavarsh Qocharyan
welcomed the newly appointed Ambassador of the Russian Federation to
Armenia Vyacheslav Kovalenko, states the Republic of Armenia Foreign
Ministry press and information department.

During the meeting, Deputy Minister Qocharyan and Ambassador Kovalenko
discussed a number of issues related to the Armenian-Russian bilateral
agenda. Both sides mentioned that the mutual understanding, mutual
trust and close cooperation established between the two countries
create a good basis for strengthening allied relations and strategic
cooperation.

Both sides also exchanged ideas on a number of regional and
international issues.