Tuesday,
Yerevan Court Refuses To Free Kocharian
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian waves to supporters during his
trial in Yerevan, .
A district court in Yerevan rejected on Tuesday former President Robert
Kocharian’s latest demand for his release from prison which followed a
Constitutional Court ruling on coup charges brought against him.
The Constitutional Court ruled on September 4 that an article of the Armenian
Code of Procedural Justice used against Kocharian is unconstitutional because
it does not take account of current and former senior Armenian officials’ legal
immunity from prosecution.
Kocharian’s lawyers seized upon that ruling to demand that their client is set
free and cleared of the charges stemming from the 2008 post-election violence
in Yerevan. A district court judge, Anna Danibekian, received a relevant
petition from them when she resumed on September 12 Kocharian’s trial suspended
almost four months ago.
Danibekian announced her decision to reject the petition at the start of the
latest court hearing in the case. She did not immediately publicize the full
text of the decision presumably containing her interpretation of the
Constitutional Court ruling.
Kocharian accused Danibekian of ignoring the ruling when he reacted to her
decision in the courtroom. His lawyers charged that the decision is the result
of what they described as strong pressure exerted on the judge by Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian and his political allies.
Pashinian on Monday described the Constitutional Court ruling as “illegal,”
citing dissenting opinions voiced by two members of Armenia’s highest tribunal.
Also, the parliamentary leaders of his My Step alliance demanded that the court
replace its chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian.
One of Kocharian’s lawyers, Hayk Alumian, said these statements were a “clear
message” to Danibekian to the effect that her decision to end the
ex-president’s prosecution would also be deemed illegal. Another defense
lawyer, Aram Orbelian, claimed that “various people visited” the judge to warn
her against ruling in Kocharian’s favor. Orbelian did not elaborate on the
claim which sparked vehement objections from trial prosecutors.
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian and three other former officials
stand trial in Yerevan, .
The judge presiding over the trial read out her decision as hundreds of vocal
supporters and critics of Kocharian again demonstrated outside the court
building in Yerevan’s southern Shengavit district. Separated by riot police,
they shouted insults at each other and chanted slogans in support and against
the man who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008.
A smaller number of rival demonstrators watched the proceedings in the
courtroom. Kocharian’s detractors burst into applause when Danibekian refused
to free the 65-year-old ex-president.
The defense lawyers went on to petition Danibekian to release Kocharian on
bail. They again argued that the ex-president never attempted to hide from
justice or obstruct the criminal investigation into the March 2008 bloodshed.
“I’m not kind the kind of person who could flee from anything” Kocharian said,
for his part. “If I was a fleeing type Azerbaijanis would now be drinking tea
in Stepanakert,” he added, reminding the judge of his wartime leadership of
Nagorno-Karabakh.
The prosecutors objected to the bail request. One of them spoke of a “very high
risk” of Kocharian going into hiding and/or exerting “illegal influence” on the
case in the event of his release. Another prosecutor argued that
law-enforcement authorities are continuing to investigate the deaths of eight
protesters and two police servicemen during the March 1-2, 2008 street clashes
in Yerevan.
Kocharian declared a state of emergency and ordered troops into the Armenian
capital during the clashes sparked by a disputed presidential election. The
prosecution says that this and other orders issued by him to the military were
illegal, a claim denied by Kocharian as politically motivated.
Also standing trial on charges of “overthrowing the constitutional order” are
Kocharian’s former chief of staff Armen Gevorgian and retired army Generals
Seyran Ohanian and Yuri Khachaturov. They too deny the accusations.
Former Security Service Chief Denies Ties To Pashinian Foes
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian at a news
conference in Yerevan, September 11, 2018.
One day after being relieved of his duties as director of the National Security
Service (NSS), Artur Vanetsian on Tuesday strongly denied collaborating with
Armenia’s former leaders and warned them against exploiting his dramatic
falling out with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Vanetsian specifically bristled at suggestions about his secret ties to Mikael
Minasian, a once influential son-in-law of former President Serzh Sarkisian.
Pashinian was the first to announce on Monday that the NSS is no longer headed
by Vanetsian “as a result of several discussions” held by the two men. He
declined to give any reasons for the decision made by “mutual consent.”
Vanetsian indicated, however, that he himself decided to resign because of
disagreements with the prime minister. In a written statement, he said that the
latter’s leadership style is not good for Armenia and runs counter to the NSS
“officer’s honor.”
Pashinian’s press secretary, Vladimir Karapetian, hit out at Vanetsian later on
Monday, saying that his statement might have been written by “PR offices of
corrupt persons who have ‘mistakenly’ avoided prosecution.” “We are calling on
General Vanetsian not to lose the officer’s dignity cited by him,” warned
Karapetian.
“That text was written by me and edited by my adviser Armen Davtian,” Vanetsian
told three media outlets on Tuesday. He said it is “simply naïve” to suspect
links between him and the former ruling regime.
“More specifically, let nobody try to link me with Mikael Minasian because for
me Mikael Minasian is someone who has yet to answer many questions before
Armenia’s laws,” Vanetsian went on. “The prime minister said yesterday that an
investigation is underway. The investigation will establish whether or not
Mikael Minasian must be brought to justice.”
Vatican - Armenian Ambassador Mikael Minasian (R) speaks at an event during
President Serzh Sarkisian's visit to Rome, 19Sep2014.
Pashinian revealed on Monday that law-enforcement authorities are investigating
Minasian’s role in what he described as a highly suspicious privatization of
“one of Armenia’s strategic facilities.” He declined to elaborate, saying only
that Sarkisian’s son-in-law should “return to Armenia and answer questions”
from investigators.
Minasian is thought to have developed extensive business interests in Armenia
during Sarkisian’s decade-long rule. He reportedly sold off at least some of
his assets after the Pashinian-led “Velvet Revolution” that toppled his
father-in-law.
Senior representatives of Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) seized
upon Vanetsian’s resignation to launch fresh verbal attacks on Pashinian.
Vanetsian responded by warning them against trying to “draw me into their
games” and “meddle in my current relations with the authorities.” “We know how
to continue those relations,” he said.
Vanetsian, who remains the chairman of the Football Federation of Armenia, was
also coy about his political future. “I will not make any comments on engaging
in politics,” he said. “For now I will concentrate on the development of our
football.”
Vanetsian, 39, was named to run Armenia’s most powerful security service two
days after Pashinian became prime minister in May 2018. He was regarded as an
influential member of Pashinian’s entourage.
Sarkisian’s Son-In-Law Investigated Over Privatization Deal
• Nane Sahakian
• Karine Simonian
President Serzh Sargsyan awards a medal to his son-in-law and Armenian
Ambassador to the Vatican Mikayel Minassian, April 5, 2018.
Mikael Minasian, former President Serzh Sarkisian’s son-in-law and reputed
confidant, is a suspect in an ongoing criminal investigation into a 2010
privatization deal which Armenian prosecutors say cost the state millions of
dollars in losses.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian indicated on Monday that Minasian might be
indicted in connection with the sale of “one of Armenia’s strategic facilities”
located in the northern Lori province. Pashinian said he should “return to
Armenia and answer questions” from investigators. He declined to give any
details of the investigation.
Sources told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Tuesday that the facility in question
is DzoraHEK, a medium-sized hydroelectric plant built in Soviet times. It was
handed over to the Armenian Defense Ministry in 2001, one year after Sarkisian
was appointed as defense minister.
In 2010, then President Sarkisian’s government decided to sell the plant to a
private company, Dzoraget Hydro, for 3.6 billion drams ($7.5 million). Some
Armenian media outlets, including Pashinian’s “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily,
suggested at the time that the company belongs to Minasian.
Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General announced in May that a police
inquiry has found that the sell-off price was set well below DzoraHEK’s market
value estimated by a government property agency at around 8 billion drams
($16.8 million). It said that following the privatization public utility
regulators sharply raised the price of electricity produced at the plant to
widen its profit margins.
DzoraHEK’s new private owner earned an equivalent of over $29 million in
revenues from 2011-2018, the law-enforcement agency said in a statement. The
plant’s privatization thus “inflicted substantial damage on the state’s
legitimate interests,” it said.
The prosecutors added that they have assigned Armenia’s Special Investigative
Service (SIS) to continue the inquiry.
“The investigation into the case is in progress and I can’t give other details
now in the interests of the investigation,” an SIS spokeswoman, Marina
Ohanjanian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. She would not say whether anyone
has been charged in connection with the 2010 deal.
Lori’s governor, Andrei Ghukasian, described the hydroelectric facility’s
privatization as a “serious crime” that “caused the state a great deal of
damage.” But he said he is not familiar with details of the ongoing probe.
Minasian has not yet publicly commented on the probe or his alleged involvement
in the deal. It is not clear where he lives at present.
Minasian served as Armenia’s ambassador to the Vatican from 2013 to 2018. He
was sacked last November six months after the Pashinian-led “Velvet Revolution”
toppled Sarkisian.
The 41-year-old enjoyed considerable political and economic influence in the
country throughout Sarkisian’s decade-long rule. He is also thought to have
developed extensive business interests in various sectors of the Armenian
economy.
“I don’t want to make statements that could create problems for the [DzoraHEK]
investigation, but Mikael Minasian was and still is the owner of many
businesses in Armenia,” Pashinian told a news conference on Monday. “It’s just
that those assets were registered in the name of a woman whose name won’t tell
you anything.”
Pashinian claimed that Minasian had abused “state levers” to enrich himself.
The prime minister complained that the current Armenian authorities have so far
lacked “legal grounds” to seize his dubiously acquired assets.
Minasian’s father Ara is a renowned doctor who ran a state hospital in Yerevan
until the Armenian Health Ministry accused him of embezzlement in July 2018.
Ara Minasian strongly denied the allegations. He apparently fled Armenia before
being formally charged in November 2018.
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” says that Artur Vanetsian, the former director of the National
Security Service (NSS), was one of the most influential members of Armenia’s
current leadership who had direct access to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. “He
is the one who made officials in the new Armenia get their act together,”
writes the paper. “In Armenia’s history there have probably been no precedents
of officials of this caliber to resign from their post with such emphases. The
reason for Vanetsian’s resignation is known to Pashinian. They arrived at this
point by mutual consent.”
“Zhamanak” emphasizes Vanetsian’s statement critical of Pashinian. “In other
words, he is not just talking about his objections to the course of
governance,” writes the paper. “In that context he is bringing up the issue of
‘officer’s honor.’” It says Vanetsian thus raised the bar very high for the
next head of the NSS who has not yet been named by Pashinian.
“One can always make staff changes but there are two conditions for doing
that,” writes “Hraparak.” “The departing official must be a failure and the
incoming one a bit better than their predecessor. And if the head of the
National Security Service is replaced -- especially at such a complicated time,
namely on the eve of the Eurasian Economic Union summit [in Yerevan] and the
prime minister’s visit to the U.S. – then it means that a major conflict within
the government had brewed up.”
“Aravot” says that Armenians have never been given clear explanations for the
sackings or resignations of high-ranking state officials. “In Soviet times
there was a standard explanation: because of health problems,” says the paper.
“All officials who have resigned since 1991 seem to be physically healthy. As
for what differences they had with the ruling group and the country’s leader in
particular, that becomes clear only if the dismissed officials launch a
political struggle against the authorities.” So one can only speculate about
the reasons for Vanetsian’s departure, concludes the paper.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org