Category: 2020

 19:04, 4 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS.  The lawyers of 2^nd President of Armenia Robert Kocharyans filed a motion to the court to suspend the case on the alleged overthrow of the constitutional order. ARMENPRESS reports the examination of the motion was postponed because of the end of the working day.

The other participants f the trial will give speeches at the next hearing.

Aram Orbelyan, one of Kocharyan’s lawyers, citing the Constitution, emphasized that in March 2008 Robert Kocharyan acted exclusively in the limits of the powers of the President. According to Orbelyan, Robert Kocharyan’s right to immunity and  presumption of innocence have been and continue to be violated. Concluding his speech, Aram Orbelyan asked the court to suspend the criminal persecution of Robert Kocharyan.

Erik Grigoryan, lawyer of former Deputy PM Armen Gevorgyan, also filed a motion to drop the charges from his defendant.

Criminal charges are pressed against former President Robert Kocharian, former Chief of General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, former Secretary General of the CSTO Yuri Khachaturov, former Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan and former  Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan over the March 1 case.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 20:53, 4 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 4, ARMENPRESS.  Detention has been chosen as a preventive measure for Davit Movsisyan who is indicted for the death of serviceman (conscript) Vahram Avagyan, ARMENPRESS reports head of the press service of the Investigative Committee of Armenia Naira Harutyunyan wrote on her Facebook page.

Davit Movsisyan is the son of former MP Arakel Movsisyan, known as Shmays.

Davit Movsisyan is charged under Article 359 (3) of the Criminal Code of Armenia, that is, breaching the rules of conduct of servicemen in the absence of subordinate relations between them, which negligently caused grave consequences.

The incident took place on January 30. Davit Movsisyan was the co-serviceman of the killed soldier.

Edited and translated by Tigran Sirekanyan

 09:50, 5 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan reminded the 6 pan-national consensuses proposed by him in Stepanakert on August 5, 2019, as a pillar and formula for the pan-Armenianism and the national unity.

The PM made a post on Facebook:

“Consensus 1: Violence should be ruled out from the set of tools for resolving any pan-Armenian issue. We should rule out violence while solving any internal issues between us in our reality. All those forces, individuals, who consider violence as a measure to solve any inner-Armenian issue, should be rejected and thrown into the garbage of the history of the Armenian people. The vision of having a violence-free society, a violence-free people should become the key point of our national unity. But, in this context there is only one exception: the talk is about the use of a legal force to prevent and reveal crimes, and ensure the normal life of the people.

Consensus 2: People and their free _expression_ of will are the only source for the formation of power. Any attempt of distorting the people’s will should be viewed as an anti-state, anti-national activity. In this respect I attach a great importance to the holding of the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in the Republic of Artsakh in free, competitive and democratic environment and to providing real guarantees for the people’s free _expression_ of will. Therefore, the Republic of Armenia should act and will act as a guarantor of the Artsakh people’s free _expression_ of will and the formation of a legitimate power through this _expression_ of will.

Consensus 3: The sovereignty of Armenia and Artsakh, the Armenian people is the highest value, and all those forces who will try to bring foreign forces for solving inner-Armenian issues, all those forces who will act in our country as a representative of foreign interests, should receive and will receive the toughest counter response of the Armenian people and their legitimate representative – the government of Armenia.

Consensus 4: Armenia and Artsakh should be free from corruption. All corruption manifestations, including sponsorship, artificial monopolies, artificial barriers against the competitors, should be eradicated. The damages caused by corruption activity to the state and the people should be restored.

Consensus 5: The rule of law and right, the equality of all before the law should become a key point in the inner-national relations. The existence of courts that are under foreign or domestic influence is a threat to the national security. In Armenia and Artsakh courts should be independent. The presence of a privileged elite, circles and individuals in economy, politics and any sphere of public life should be ruled out. Here I want to make a comment: dear people, we have many worthy people, Armenians gave many worthy sons, but it’s unacceptable and cannot be tolerated when someone provides service to the people and the homeland and later tries to sell that service in a privileged, out-of-law way.

Consensus 6: The most important consensus: the purpose of the negotiation process for settling the Artsakh conflict should be the defense of the results of the Artsakh liberation war carried out for the self-determination and security of the people of Artsakh. Based on the negotiation results any solution considered accepted for the governments of Armenia and Artsakh can be considered acceptable only in case of the people’s approval in Armenia and Artsakh”.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan

 10:22, 5 February, 2020

STEPANAKERT, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. An OSCE mission will conduct a planned ceasefire monitoring on February 6 at the Artsakh-Azerbaijan line of contact, the Foreign Ministry of Artsakh said.

From the Artsakh side, the monitoring will be carried out by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office field assistants Ognjen Jovic (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Ghenadie Petrica (Moldova), as well as Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson in Office personal assistant Simon Tiller (UK).

From the opposite side of the line of contact the monitoring will be conducted by Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, his field assistant Mihail Olaru (Moldova) and staff member Martin Shuster (Germany).

The monitoring will take place in accordance to arrangements reached with the government of Artsakh.  It will be carried out in the eastern part of the village of Talish in the Martakert region.

The authorities of Artsakh expressed willingness to assist in conducting the monitoring and ensure the safety of the OSCE mission.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 09:57, 5 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. The number of people infected with the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV in China has surpassed 24,300, and the death toll has climbed to 490, China's National Health Commission said, reports TASS.

Earlier on Wednesday, the Wangyi news portal reported citing regional authorities that over 23,600 people were infected with the new coronavirus, and the death toll climbed to 491 (including one lethal case in Hong Kong).

Over 185,500 people in China remain under medical supervision.

According to the commission, 846 people have recovered after contracting the new coronavirus. Most people infected with 2019-nCoV are reported from Hubei province (16,600), where the death toll from the new coronavirus climbed to 479. In Zhejiang province, 829 people were infected, in Guangdong province — 813 people, in Beijing — 228 people (one person died), in Heilongjiang province bordering Russia v 155 people (two people died), and in Inner Mongolia province bordering Russia — 35 people.

On December 31, 2019, Chinese authorities informed the World Health Organization (WHO) about an outbreak of an unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, a large trade and industrial center in central China populated by 11 million people. On January 7, Chinese experts identified the infecting agent: coronavirus 2019-nCoV.

Cases of the new coronavirus were also confirmed in 24 other countries, including Russia. The WHO declared the new coronavirus outbreak an international public health emergency.

 10:28, 5 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. South Korea is creating a 3 billion dollar reserve fund and is ramping up countermeasures to combat the novel coronavirus, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun announced on February 5.

He said soon South Korea may expand restrictions on entry of foreign visitors.

“The Government is comprehensively preparing for the further possible spread of the virus,” he said.

As of February 4, South Korea has 18 confirmed cases of the disease. 129 are quarantined.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 10:48, 5 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. An Armenian national will be evacuated from China on board a Russian military plane, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said, according to TASS.

She said that two planes of the Russian Aerospace Forces have flown to China to evacuate people to Russia's Tyumen region. 147 people will be evacuated, including 10 Belarusian citizens, three citizens of Kazakhstan, one citizen of Armenia and one Ukrainian citizen, she said. One of the planes has already arrived to Russia. The other one is on its way. 

Popova said the arriving passengers will be quarantined for two weeks in a special territory of a medical center, which will be guarded by the Russian National Guards.

On February 4, an Armenian foreign ministry official announced that the second Armenian citizen will be evacuated from lockdown in China amid the new coronavirus outbreak.

The first Armenian national to be airlifted out of Wuhan, China was a student who is currently in Kazakhstan under quarantine. She was evacuated on February 2 by Kazakhstan.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 10:57, 5 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. The Yerevan Zoo said February 5 one of its camels has died. Acting Director of the Yerevan Zoo Vladimir Simonyan told ARMENPRESS they don’t know why the animal died yet. “We are waiting for the lab tests”, he said, adding that he will give updates as soon as information becomes available.

Two years ago, a bezoar ibex of the zoo was found dead outside the facility’s limits. Then, in 2019, three kangaroos were mauled to death by stray dogs. The Yerevan Zoo was in the media-spotlight for quite a while regarding the incidents. The current acting director was appointed after the then-director stepped down amid the scandal.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan

 10:59, 5 February, 2020

YEREVAN, FEBRUARY 5, ARMENPRESS. Deputy minister of economy Naira Margaryan met with Director of the Institute of Management Consulting, IMC Armenia, Silva Mesropyan.

IMC Armenia is a member of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI), the ministry told Armenpress.

The meeting aimed at discussing the organization and preparations works of the upcoming Big Business Bridge global forum which will take place in Armenia in May.

The Armenian ministry of economy, as an official partner of the event, attaches great importance to the development of consulting institute in Armenia. “Among our priorities is the creation of a favorable ecosystem for business development, and the presence of high-quality and relevant consulting services is one of its most important components. We still have a lot of work to do on this path”, the deputy minister said.

Holding the forum in Armenia aims at boosting the consulting service market in the country by enabling the representatives of the consulting field and the business to get acquainted with the mutual cooperation opportunities, the international experience and developments.

On the sidelines of the forum the Asia Pacific Hub Meeting will take place.

ICMCI member states are Austria, Australia, Germany, Italy, Japan, South Korea, the Netherlands, Russia, US, China, Sweden, Switzerland, etc.

Edited and translated by Aneta Harutyunyan