Thursday,
Jailed Armenian General Hospitalized
• Anush Muradian
Armenia - Retired General Manvel Grigorian speaks at a congress of the
Yerkrapah Union in Yerevan, 18 February 2017.
Manvel Grigorian, a retired army general arrested recently on corruption
charges, has been hospitalized to undergo medical tests ordered by an Armenian
law-enforcement agency.
Grigorian was transferred from a detention center in downtown Yerevan to the
endocrinology department of the Armenia Medical Center late on Wednesday.
Officials at the civilian hospital refused on Thursday to comment on his
reportedly poor health condition.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS) told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that it
wants to ascertain that condition.
Grigorian was arrested when security forces raided his properties in and around
the town of Echmiadzin on June 16. They found many weapons, ammunition,
medication and field rations for soldiers provided by the Armenian Defense
Ministry. They also discovered canned food and several vehicles donated by
Armenians at one of Grigorian’s mansions. A widely publicized official video of
the raids caused shock and indignation in the country.
The Armenian parliament, of which Grigorian is a member, was quick to allow
investigators to prosecute and keep him in pre-trial detention on charges of
illegal arms possession and embezzlement. The once powerful general denies the
accusations.
Grigorian’s lawyers have repeatedly demanded his release from pre-trial
custody, saying that the 61-year-old is suffering from a number of serious
illnesses. They were allowed to visit him in the hospital on Thursday morning.
One of the lawyers, Levon Baghdasarian, claimed that his client’s condition has
worsened in the last few days. “He has trouble talking and breathing,” he told
RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Baghdasarian complained that Grigorian was hospitalized to undergo tests,
rather than receive what he described as badly needed receive medical aid. His
treatment by the authorities amounts to “torture,” charged the lawyer.
Grigorian served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister from 2000-2008. Until his
arrest he was also the chairman of the Yerkrapah Union of Karabakh war
veterans, an organization which was particularly influential in the 1990s and
the early 2000s. He was reelected to the parliament last year on the ticket of
then President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party.
Armenian Government Vows Tax Cuts
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian visits a tech company based at the
newly built Engineering City in Yerevan, .
The Armenian government has promised major tax cuts that will benefit most
workers as well as some small businesses.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said the government will initiate “very serious
changes” in Armenia’s Tax Code in a Facebook video address aired late on
Wednesday.“I can now say that we will opt for a simplification of the tax
legislation and a reduction in personal income tax,” he said.
Pashinian declined to specify the extent of the new tax rates planned by the
government, saying that “several scenarios” are still under consideration. He
pledged to all but scrap the main tax levied some of the small businesses
operating in the country.
Under Armenian law, companies with an annual turnover of up to 115 million
drams ($237,000) are exempt from profit and value-added (VAT) taxes paid by
larger businesses. They are only required to pay “turnover tax” equivalent to 2
percent of their revenue.
Pashinian promised to set a new and “symbolic” tax rate for small firms earning
no more than 24 million drams annually. “In essence, that will mean the near
absence of [turnover] tax,” he said.
Davit Ananian, the head of Armenia’s State Revenue Committee (SRC), was careful
not to shed more light on the promised tax cuts when he spoke to reporters on
Thursday. He said the government is still calculating “budgetary losses” that
would result from lower taxes and is looking into ways of making up for them.
“In September the government will formulate a common position [on the issue]
and inform the public,” Ananian said after a weekly cabinet meeting in Yerevan.
The government hopes to push the amendments through the parliament before the
end of this year, he said.
The Tax Code was already amended by Armenia’s previous government last year.
The amendments raised from 26 percent to 28 percent the tax rate for monthly
incomes ranging from 150,000 drams to 2 million drams ($310-$4,150). The rate
for those who earn more was set at 36 percent. At the same time the tax rate
for workers making up to 150,000 drams a month was cut from 24.4 percent to 23
percent.
Those changes, which took effect on January 1, met with strong resistance from
opposition groups, notably Pashinian’s Yelk bloc. In February, the Armenian
parliament voted down a Yelk bill that would repeal the higher tax rates.
But on April 12, Serzh Sarkisian’s government unexpectedly announced plans to
lower income tax. The announcement came the day before Pashinian launched
anti-government mass protests that eventually brought him to power.
Armenian Police Forces Deployed On Azeri Border
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia - The first group of Armenian interior troops is sent to the border
with Azerbaijan, .
The first large group of Armenian interior troops joined army units in guarding
Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan on Thursday as part of an unprecedented
redeployment ordered by the new government.
They headed to some sections of the heavily militarized border immediately
after an farewell ceremony in Yerevan attended by Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian and other senior officials.
The troops that are part of the national police service have until now been
tasked with only ensuring internal security and dealing with violent unrest in
the country. Pashinian ordered them to also protect the Armenian-Azerbaijani
frontier on a rotating basis shortly after coming to power in May.
Speaking at the ceremony, Pashinian described their new mission as “historic,”
saying that they will not only help the Armenian military but also improve
their public image. “Our objective is to ensure that Armenia’s citizens
perceive the police and the police troops as protectors of their security,
Armenian statehood and the constitution,” he said.
The Armenian police chief, Valeri Osipian, said earlier this week that police
personnel will serve at the border on two-week tours of duty and receive
additional payments for that. They look forward to their new task, Osipian told
reporters.
Daniel Ioannisian, a civic activist who sits on new government commissions
formed by Pashinian, welcomed the redeployment. “The public always wondered who
the possible enemies of the police troops are, and this only deepened distrust
between the public and the police,” he said. “That problem was somewhat
addressed as soon as it was announced that the police troops will also be
defending the country’s borders.”
Kocharian To Also Appeal To Top Court
• Tatev Danielian
Armenia - A plaque at the entrance to former President Robert Kocharian's
office in Yerevan, 23 June 2018.
Despite being released from custody Robert Kocharian will also appeal to
Armenia’s highest criminal court in connection with his recent arrest, a lawyer
for the embattled former president said on Thursday.
The Court of Appeals on August 13 overturned a district court’s July 27
decision to allow Kocharian’s arrest on charges stemming from the 2008
post-election violence in Yerevan. It said that the Armenian constitution gives
him immunity from prosecution.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS), which filed the accusations, condemned
the decision as “illegal.” State prosecutors asked the Court of Cassation,
Armenia’s highest body of criminal and administrative justice, to invalidate it
on Monday.
One of Kocharian’s lawyers, Hayk Alumian, said his client is not fully
satisfied with the August 13 ruling and will file an appeal with the Court of
Cassation. “Of all our arguments only the one about Mr. Kocharian’s immunity
was accepted,” explained Alumian. “But we wanted the Court of Appeals to also
address the other grounds [for his release.]”
Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, stands accused of illegally using
the armed forces against opposition supporters who protested against alleged
fraud in a disputed presidential election held in February 2008. Eight
protesters and two police personnel were killed when security forces broke up
those demonstrations on March 1-2, 2018.
The 63-year-old ex-president denies the accusations as politically motivated,
saying that Armenia’s current government is waging a “vendetta” against him. He
announced his return to active politics on August 16.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, who played a key role in the 2008 protests,
strongly defended the SIS probe at a rally held the following day. In a clear
reference to Kocharian, Pashinian said: “I want to make clear that no one will
avoid responsibility for killing 10 people and staging a coup d’état in Armenia
on March 1 [2008] … All murderers will go to prison.”
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” sees “no alternative” to pre-term parliamentary elections in
Armenia, saying that the current National Assembly “does not reflect the real
political picture and the popular mood.” The paper argues that the largest
parliamentary force, the Republican Party (HHK), was ousted from power by
Armenians just a few months ago.
“Haykakan Zhamanak” says, for its part, that the HHK has failed to become a
credible opposition force despite having “huge financial resources” and many
experienced individuals. “Very quickly it became clear that there is no reason
to be particularly worried [about the HHK,]” writes the paper linked to Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian. It says that all the HHK can do now is to exploit
statements made by Pashinian. In particular, it shrugs off at parliament
speaker Ara Babloyan’s claims that Pashinian is putting pressure on Armenian
courts, saying that he never protested against the grave lack of judicial
independence in the country before the recent regime change.
“Today’s political agenda is dictated by corruption revelations, law-enforcers’
statements about the recovery of large [embezzled] sums, arrests, the amounts
of bail granted by courts and so on as well as the resulting speeches
incriminating the former authorities,” writes “Aravot.” “Not only the prime
minister’s entourage but also virtually all political forces concentrate on
fighting against the HHK and Robert Kocharian. This retrospective fight is
attributed to the latter’s ‘revanchist’ plans which are possible but
meaningless and not feasible. Fighting shadows of the past is a very convenient
political stance. You don’t have to say how one or another problem should be
solved or come up with any ideas. You just confine yourself to lambasting
former presidents, General Manvel [Grigorian] and others.”
“Hraparak” comments on the “interesting” decision of the HHK not to participate
in the upcoming mayoral elections in Yerevan. “This is nonsense but we are used
to political nonsenses,” says the paper. It finds equally nonsensical the same
decision made by Levon Ter-Petrosian’s Armenian National Congress.
(Tigran Avetisian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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