Category: 2020

FORUM 18 NEWS SERVICE, Oslo, Norway
The right to believe, to worship and witness
The right to change one's belief or religion
The right to join together and express one's belief
=================================================
Monday 
AZERBAIJAN: Strasbourg Court rules long pre-trial detention "excessive"
The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled in three cases
in 2020 that Azerbaijan violated the rights of 13 individuals by subjecting
them to excessively long pre-trial detention, and ordered compensation.
Five of these had been detained for exercising freedom of religion or
belief. Imam Taleh Bagirov – who was tortured in pre-trial detention –
and Zakir Mustafayev are still serving jail terms.
AZERBAIJAN: Strasbourg Court rules long pre-trial detention "excessive"
By Felix Corley, Forum 18
In three separate decisions so far in 2020 – the most recent two on 4
June - the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in Strasbourg ruled that
Azerbaijan violated the rights of 13 individuals by subjecting them to
excessively long pre-trial detention and ordered compensation to each. Of
those ordered compensated, five had been detained for exercising freedom of
religion or belief.
The telephone of Chingiz Asgarov, the Azerbaijani government's Agent at the
ECtHR, went unanswered each time Forum 18 called (see below).
The General Prosecutor's Office in the capital Baku has not yet responded
to Forum 18's questions as to whether prosecutors are going to stop asking
courts to authorise the long detention of people in pre-trial detention,
and whether the General Prosecutors Office has already given prosecutors
such instructions (see below).
The five ordered compensated for excessively long pre-trial detention as
they awaited punishment for exercising the right to freedom of religion or
belief are:
- Shia Muslim and leader of the Muslim Unity Movement Imam Taleh Bagirov,
held in pre-trial detention for seven months in 2013;
- Shia Muslim Zakir Mustafayev of the Muslim Unity Movement, held in
pre-trial detention for nearly ten months from 2015;
- Sunni Muslim Ismayil Mammadov, held in the then NSM prison in Baku for
five months in 2014;
- Sunni Muslim Eldaniz Hajiyev, held in the then NSM prison in Baku for
five months in 2014; 
- Sunni Muslim Revan Sabzaliyev, held in the then NSM prison in Baku for
nearly four months in 2014 (see below).
Of these five, Mustafayev and Bagirov are still serving jail terms. No
officials have been arrested or put on trial for inflicting torture on
Bagirov and others arrested with him (see below).
The 13 men had appealed to the Strasbourg Court at various dates between
2011 and 2017 under Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights
and Fundamental Freedoms. This declares that arrested individuals are
"entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial.
Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial."
In two of the three cases – involving a total of ten men – the
government itself "acknowledged the excessive length of pre-trial
detention" and offered compensation of 3,000 Euros (5,700 Azerbaijani
Manats, 32,000 Norwegian Kroner or 3,400 US Dollars) to each. The Court
accepted this, even though the victims believe the compensation is too low
and wanted the Court to continue hearing the cases. The Court rejected
their request (see below).
Asabali Mustafayev, a lawyer who assisted on Mammadov and Hajiyev's cases,
said they did not agree with the Court's decision to close the cases. "We
wanted the Court to continue the cases and rule on the substance, the
legality of their detention – whether these men should have been arrested
and prosecuted at all" (see below).
In the case of Sabzaliyev, the government should have paid compensation by
16 April, three months after the ECtHR decision. However, as of 19 June he
still had not received it. "They're dragging their feet," the lawyer
Mustafayev told Forum 18 from Sumgait. "They're promising it this month"
(see below).
Meanwhile, amendments to the Criminal Code – which entered into force on
1 June - have introduced an alternative punishment for producing, selling
and distributing religious materials without state permission under Article
167-2.
In addition to the previous punishments of fines or a jail term,
individuals acting alone can now be punished with a restricted freedom
sentence of up to two years for a first conviction, or a restricted freedom
sentence of between two and four years for members of a group or those
already convicted (see below).
"They want to demonstrate that they are ready to soften approaches," one
human rights defender told Forum 18 from Baku, but questioned why people
should be punished at all for publishing or distributing materials about
religion without state approval (see below).
Will ECtHR decisions lead to change?
Forum 18 was unable to find out what actions the Azerbaijani government (if
any) is planning in response to the findings of the ECtHR in Strasbourg
that it had held the 13 men in excessively long pre-trial detention. ECtHR
judgments require governments not only to pay any compensation awarded but
to rectify the conditions which led to the human rights violations.
The telephone at the Presidential Administration of Chingiz Asgarov, the
Azerbaijani government's Agent at the ECtHR, went unanswered each time
Forum 18 called on 22 June.
Forum 18 asked Gunay Salimzade, head of the Press Service at the General
Prosecutor's Office, in writing on 22 June:
- whether prosecutors are going to stop asking courts to authorise the long
detention of people in pre-trial detention;
- and whether the General Prosecutors Office has already given prosecutors
such instructions.
Forum 18 received no response from the General Prosecutor's Office by the
end of the working day in Baku on 22 June.
Individuals and communities have brought at least 50 cases to the ECtHR
against Azerbaijan since 2004 over its persistent and repeated violations
of the right to freedom of religion or belief.
(
 )
The ECtHR found in October 2019 that the Azerbaijani government violated
the rights of five Jehovah's Witnesses who were punished for refusing to
perform compulsory military service on grounds of conscience. Four of them
had been jailed and one given a suspended sentence and fined. Despite this,
Azerbaijan has so far failed to introduce a civilian alternative to
compulsory military service.
(
 )
Delayed compensation, no compensation
In October 2018, after a long legal battle within Azerbaijan, two Jehovah's
Witnesses finally received compensation for their pre-trial detention of
nearly a year in the then National Security Ministry prison in Baku in 2015
(
 ).  The two women were
arrested for offering a religious book to a neighbour (see below). The
Supreme Court finally exonerated the two women in February 2017.
The women were held at the then NSM prison in a "confinement room, a
'cage', rather than a cell, in that there was no privacy and everything was
exposed to the sight of others", Jehovah's Witnesses told Forum 18. "The
smell of sewage in this 'cage' was suffocating."
(
 )
Jeyhun Jafarov, a translator of Islamic works and broadcaster on Islamic
themes, received no compensation for more than a year in pre-trial
detention.
The then NSM secret police arrested Jafarov in March 2015 on treason
charges, which he rejected. He complained to the ECtHR about being arrested
and tortured (Application No. 46446/15). A Baku court ordered his transfer
to house arrest in September 2016 and later the criminal case was closed
with no trial 
(
 ). The
ECtHR asked the government questions about the case on 12 March 2018.
Jafarov withdrew his application on 2 July 2018 and the ECtHR struck out
the case on 17 January 2019
(
 ).
Length of pre-trial detention "excessive"
In two separate cases on 4 June, the European Court of Human Rights in
Strasbourg ruled that Azerbaijan violated the rights of ten individuals by
subjecting them to excessively long pre-trial detention and ordered
compensation to each. Of those detained, four had been detained for
exercising freedom of religion or belief.
The ten men include:
- Shia Muslim Zakir Mustafayev of the Muslim Unity Movement, held in
pre-trial detention for nearly ten months;
- Shia Muslim and leader of the Muslim Unity Movement Taleh Bagirov (also
known as Bagirzade), held in pre-trial detention for seven months;
- Sunni Muslim Ismayil Mammadov, held in pre-trial detention for five
months;
- and Sunni Muslim Eldaniz Hajiyev, held in pre-trial detention for five
months.
The two decisions followed a similar ECtHR decision on 16 January 2020
relating to the excessive time in pre-trial detention of three former
prisoners (one of whom died before the decision was handed down). One of
the three was Sunni Muslim Revan Sabzaliyev, held in pre-trial detention
for nearly four months.
Armed officers from the police and the then National Security Ministry
(NSM) secret police raided Hajiyev's home in Baku in April 2014 as Muslims
were meeting to study the works of the late Turkish Sunni Muslim theologian
Said Nursi. Officers seized religious literature and arrested Hajiyev,
Mammadov and Sabzaliyev.
The three spent up to five months in detention in the then NSM secret
police Investigation Prison in Baku before being transferred to house
arrest in September 2014
(
 ).
At Baku's Yasamal District Court on 7 October 2015, Ismayil Mammadov was
jailed for 5 years, 5 months; his brother Zakariyya Mammadov, with Shahin
Hasanov, was jailed for 5 years; Eldeniz Hajiyev was jailed for 4 years, 5
months; and Revan Sabzaliyev was jailed for 1 year, 7 months.
The five were punished for participation in an "illegal" religious group
under Criminal Code Article 168, as well as for distributing religious
literature which had not undergone the state's strict pre-publication
religious censorship. 
(
 )
On 19 April 2016, at their much-delayed appeal, Judge Mammadov reduced the
prison terms on Ismayil Mammadov and Hajiyev to 2 years, 6 months each. The
Judge reduced Sabzaliyev's prison term to one year. The Judge also changed
the remainder of Hasanov and Zakariyya Mammadov's sentences from prison
terms to suspended sentences.
As Sabzaliyev had already served the reduced prison term (his time in
pre-trial detention at the NSM secret police Investigation Prison counted
towards his punishment), he was freed in the court room.
(
 )
Mammadov lodged his case to the ECtHR on 31 October 2014 (Application No.
71584/14).
Sabzaliyev lodged his case to the ECtHR on 6 November 2014 (Application No.
73334/14).
Hajiyev lodged his case to the ECtHR on 27 November 2014 (Application No.
74567/14).
Shia Muslim theologian and preacher Taleh Bagirov led prayers at the Hazrat
Abulfaz Aga Mosque in the village of Mastaga on the Absheron peninsula near
Baku. He and his driver Anar Melikov were arrested on 31 March 2013. While
in the hands of Baku's Sabunchu District Police, both say they were beaten.
Bagirov was held in pre-trial detention for seven months until he was
finally brought to trial at Baku's Sabunchu District Court. He was given a
two-year strict regime prison sentence on 1 November 2013
(
 ). He was found guilty
of possessing just over one gram of heroin, an accusation his supporters
insist was fabricated to punish him for his religious and political
activity. Four months were later added to his sentence for allegedly having
a mobile phone with him in prison
(
 ).
The Azerbaijani authorities moved quickly to crush the Muslim Unity
Movement, which Bagirov leads, after its launch in 2015. The Movement has
both religious and political goals and aims to unify the Islamic and
secular opposition to the regime of President Ilham Aliyev.
Bagirov was among many Muslims arrested during an armed raid on a home in
Nardaran in November 2015 as they were holding Friday prayers
(
 ).
The first 18 – including Bagirov and the deputy head of the Muslim Unity
Movement Abbas Huseynov – were sentenced at Baku's Serious Crimes Court
on 25 January 2017. The charges – which the accused strongly disputed -
included terrorism, an attempt to seize power violently, illegal firearms
possession, and murder. Bagirov and Huseynov received the longest prison
terms of 20 years each
(
 ).
In February 2018, a Baku Court convicted Bagirov for having micro-discs of
the Koran and religious music in his prison cell. It added two and a half
months to his existing 20-year prison term
(
 ).
Shia Muslim Zakir Mustafayev of the Muslim Unity Movement was among those
also arrested in the raid on the Nardaran home in November 2015. He was
tried with Bagirov and the 16 others and sentenced on 25 January 2017 to
14.5 years' imprisonment
(
 ).
Of the 18 men convicted in the case in January 2017, 17 told the court that
they had been tortured after their arrests to extract confessions and
"testimony" against others
(
 ). Despite Azerbaijan's
binding international human rights obligations, no officials have been
arrested or put on criminal trial for torturing people.
Bagirov was also subjected to "severe torture" and a broken nose while in
detention at the Interior Ministry's Main Directorate for the Struggle with
Organised Crime in December 2015
(
 ). No officials were
arrested or put on criminal trial for this torture.
Bagirov lodged his case to the ECtHR – related to his first arrest and
pre-trial detention in 2013 - on 7 October 2013 (Application No. 12541/13).
Mustafayev lodged his case to the ECtHR on 15 October 2016 (Application No.
62872/16).
Compensation, but no consideration of why men arrested
The ECtHR in Strasbourg ordered Azerbaijan to pay each of the 13 men whose
rights it had violated 3,000 Euros (5,700 Azerbaijani Manats, 32,000
Norwegian Kroner or 3,400 US Dollars) in compensation within three months
of the decisions being handed down. The decisions were final on the day
they were issued and the victims could not challenge them.
In the case of Sabzaliyev, the government should have paid compensation by
16 April, three months after the ECtHR decision. However, as of 19 June he
still had not received it. "They're dragging their feet," a lawyer familiar
with the case, Asabali Mustafayev, told Forum 18 from Sumgait on 19 June.
"They're promising it this month."
The 13 men had appealed to the Strasbourg Court in separate cases at
various dates between 2011 and 2017 under Article 5 of the European
Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. This declares that
arrested individuals are "entitled to trial within a reasonable time or to
release pending trial. Release may be conditioned by guarantees to appear
for trial."
In two of the three combined cases – involving a total of ten men – the
government itself "acknowledged the excessive length of pre-trial
detention" and offered 3,000 Euros compensation to each. The Court accepted
this, even though the victims believe the compensation is too low and
wanted the Court to continue hearing the cases. The Court rejected their
request.
The 13 men had appealed to the Strasbourg Court under Article 5 of the
European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, which
declares: "3.  Everyone arrested or detained in accordance with the
provisions of paragraph 1 (c) of this Article shall be ..  entitled to
trial within a reasonable time or to release pending trial. Release may be
conditioned by guarantees to appear for trial."
Asabali Mustafayev, the lawyer who assisted on Mammadov and Hajiyev's ECtHR
cases, said they did not agree with the Court's decision to close the
cases. "This angers us," he told Forum 18. "It's not just about the level
of compensation offered, but about the government continuing its
persecution of Muslims who study Said Nursi's works."
"The government will simply continue its policy if we just agreed [to the
settlement] and they pay," the lawyer added. "We wanted the Court to
continue the cases and rule on the substance, the legality of their
detention – whether these men should have been arrested and prosecuted at
all."
Mustafayev pointed to other earlier arrests of Muslims who study Nursi's
works, as well as fines on more than ten people following a burial they had
attended in the northern Quba Region three years ago. Even now, these
Muslims are too afraid to gather for religious meetings, the lawyer noted.
Alternative punishment for unapproved religious literature
On 1 May, the Milli Majlis (Parliament) in Baku approved amendments to
numerous Articles of the Criminal Code. President Ilham Aliyev signed the
amendments into law on 22 May, according to the presidential website. The
amendments entered into force on 1 June.
The amendments introduced an alternative punishment of a restricted freedom
sentence under Criminal Code Article 167-2. The Article – adopted
originally in December 2011
(
 ) - punishes:
"Production, sale and distribution of religious literature (on paper and
electronic devices), audio and video materials, religious items and other
informational materials of religious nature with the aim of import, sale
and distribution without appropriate authorisation".
Punishments for first time offenders acting alone are now a fine of between
5,000 and 7,000 Manats, up to two years' restricted freedom or up to two
years' imprisonment. Such a "crime" by a group of people "according to a
prior conspiracy", by an organised group, by an individual for a second
time or by an official would attract a fine of between 7,000 and 9,000
Manats, between two and four years' restricted freedom or imprisonment of
between two and five years.
"Interestingly, they kind of soften the punishments although statements of
officials on these issues were quite harsh and there was a call for even
more severe punishments," one human rights defender told Forum 18 from Baku
in late April before final parliamentary approval. "They want to
demonstrate that they are ready to soften approaches."
However, the human rights defender questioned why people should be punished
at all for publishing or distributing materials about religion without
state approval.
In January 2016, after nearly a year in pre-trial detention, two Jehovah's
Witnesses Irina Zakharchenko and Valida Jabrayilova were convicted under
Criminal Code Article 167-2.2.1 and given a large fine. At the same time
the fine was waived and the women freed
(
 ). They were not
initially compensated for their wrongful imprisonment, as the United
Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention had demanded.
Zakharchenko and Jabrayilova appealed against their conviction for
distributing religious literature without state permission. In March 2016,
Baku Appeal Court left the sentence unchanged. In February 2017, the
Supreme Court in Baku acquitted the two women of their convictions.
In October 2018, after a long legal battle within Azerbaijan, Zakharchenko
and Jabrayilova finally received compensation for their pre-trial detention
(
 ) (see above).
Four Sunni Muslims from Baku were jailed in July 2015 under Criminal Code
Article 167-2 for selling religious books without state permission
(
 ). (END)
Full reports on freedom of thought, conscience and belief in Azerbaijan
(
 )
For more background, see Forum 18's Azerbaijan religious freedom survey
(
 )
Forum 18's compilation of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in
Europe (OSCE) freedom of religion or belief commitments
(
 )
Follow us on Twitter @Forum_18 
(
 )
Follow us on Facebook @Forum18NewsService
(
 )
All Forum 18 text may be referred to, quoted from, or republished in full,
if Forum 18 is credited as the source.
All photographs that are not Forum 18's copyright are attributed to the
copyright owner. If you reuse any photographs from Forum 18's website, you
must seek permission for any reuse from the copyright owner or abide by the
copyright terms the copyright owner has chosen.
© Forum 18 News Service. All rights reserved. ISSN 1504-2855.
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                                        Monday, 
Kocharian Freed For Now
        • Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian is pictured at home shortly after 
being released on bail, June 20, 2020.
Former President Robert Kocharian was released from custody at the weekend after 
paying a record $4.1 million bail set by an Armenian court.
The bulk of the hefty sum was reportedly provided by four wealthy Russian 
businessmen. Three of them, notably billionaire Samvel Karapetian, are ethnic 
Armenians.
Vladimir Yevtushenkov, the main shareholder in AFK Sistema, a large Russian 
corporation, was said to be the fourth major contributor. Kocharian has been a 
member of Sistema’s board of directors since 2009.
Shortly after his release, Kocharian posted on Facebook a photograph of himself 
standing in the courtyard of his Yerevan house. “At home,” wrote the 65-year-old 
ex-president facing coup and corruption charges strongly denied by him.
Kocharian returned home from a Yerevan hospital where underwent surgery in late 
April. Last month another court allowed him to stay there until the end of the 
coronavirus pandemic. The director of the Izmirlian Medical Center, Armen 
Charchian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that doctors will continue to monitor 
his condition.
The Court of Appeals decided to grant Kocharian bail on Thursday when it partly 
overturned a lower court’s refusal to free him pending the outcome of his 
ongoing trial.
Prosecutors said they will appeal against the ruling. They insisted that the 
Kocharian could obstruct justice and pressure other suspects and witnesses in 
the case.
Kocharian’s family and lawyers complained, for their part, about the 
unprecedented bail amount. His younger son, Levon, said the family cannot afford 
to make the required payment on its own.
Kocharian, his former chief of staff and two retired army generals went on trial 
more than a year ago, accused of overthrowing the constitutional order. The 
ex-president also stands accused of bribery. He rejects all accusations leveled 
against him as politically motivated.
Kocharian was released from jail for the third time since being first arrested 
in July 2018. His previous release was ordered in May 2019 by a district court 
judge who initially presided over the high-profile trial.
The judge’s decision angered political allies and supporters of Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian. Heeding Pashinian’s calls, hundreds of them blocked the 
entrances to court buildings across Armenia in protest.
Pashinian demanded a mandatory “vetting” of all Armenian judges, saying that 
many of them remain linked to the country’s “corrupt” former leadership. 
Kocharian was arrested again in June 2019.
A close Pashinian associate, Alen Simonian, insisted on Saturday that the 
authorities are not concerned about Kocharian’s latest release. He said they 
only worry about “people’s anger” over the development.
Armenian Parliament Votes To Replace Constitutional Court Judges (UPDATED)
        • Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian reads out a court 
ruling, Yerevan, March 17, 2020.
Amid strong opposition objections, the Armenian parliament approved on Monday 
constitutional changes calling for the immediate dismissal of three of the nine 
members of the country’s Constitutional Court.
The amendments drafted by the ruling My Step bloc would also require the court 
to elect a new chairman. Hrayr Tovmasian, the current chairman who has been at 
loggerheads with the Armenian government for the past year, would not have to 
resign from the court altogether.
Tovmasian and six other judges have been under strong government pressure to 
step down, with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian accusing them of maintaining 
close ties to the country’s former government and impeding judicial reforms. 
Tovmasian and opposition figures have dismissed these claims, saying that 
Pashinian is simply seeking to gain control over the Constitutional Court.
With all seven judges refusing to quit, the ruling political team decided in 
February to hold a referendum on its bid to oust them. The referendum slated for 
April 5 was subsequently postponed and then cancelled altogether because of the 
coronavirus pandemic.
In May, Pashinian’s administration opted for a less radical solution to the 
“constitutional crisis” which would bar all high court judges from serving for 
more than 12 years.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) and Constitutional Court Chairman 
Hrayr Tovmasian shake hands ahead of a 2018 meeting in Yerevan.
Such term limits were already set by amendments to the Armenian constitution 
which took effect in April 2018. However, the country’s former leadership made 
sure that they do not apply to those judges who were installed prior to that. A 
clause in the amended constitution allowed them to retain their positions until 
reaching retirement age.
The changes approved by the government-controlled parliament would eliminate 
this clause. This would lead to the immediate resignation of three judges who 
had taken the bench in the mid-1990s. Two other Constitutional Court members 
would have to resign in 2022. Tovmasian would have to quit as court chairman but 
would remain one of the nine justices.
Also in May, the government asked the Venice Commission for an advisory opinion 
on this solution.
In its opinion publicized on Monday, the Venice Commission largely backed the 
proposed formula. Still, it also called for a “transitional period which would 
allow for a gradual change in the composition of the Court in order to avoid any 
abrupt and immediate change endangering the independence of this institution.”
The commission said the Armenian authorities should also not rush to have 
Tovmasian replaced by another court chairman.
The draft constitutional amendments unveiled by Pashinian’s bloc on Friday do 
not envisage any transitional periods. The Venice Commission said it “regrets” 
this fact and believes that it is “not in line with the recommendations in this 
Opinion.”
Justice Minister Rustam Badasian and senior pro-government lawmakers downplayed 
the commission’s objections as the National Assembly swiftly passed the 
amendments in both the first and second readings.
They said that the Strasbourg-based body agreed with the main thrust of the 
constitutional changes planned by the Armenian authorities. One of those 
lawmakers, Vahagn Hovakimian, insisted that the changes will eventually result 
in a Constitutional Court “enjoying the public’s trust.”
Armenia -- Deputies from the ruling My Step bloc at a parliament session in 
Yerevan, .
The amendments were backed by 89 members of the 132-seat National Assembly. 
Virtually all of those deputies are affiliated with My Step.
The Venice Commission also noted that under Armenian law the court has to review 
and validate constitutional changes before they are passed in the second and 
final reading.
Backed by the government, the parliament’s pro-government majority decided not 
to seek such judgment. “I think there is a conflict of interest,” Badasian said, 
referring to the Constitutional Court judges affected by the amendments.
Hovakimian likewise claimed that the court cannot objectively determine the 
amendments’ conformity with other articles of the constitution for that reason.
The two opposition parties represented in the parliament boycotted the votes and 
short debates that preceded them. One of them, the Prosperous Armenia Party 
(BHK), condemned the amendments as unconstitutional. It said that the 
parliamentary majority’s decision to bypass the Constitutional Court is also 
illegal.
Accordingly, the BHK said it will try to challenge the amendments in the 
Constitutional Court before they can take effect. It urged the other 
parliamentary opposition party, Bright Armenia (LHK), to join it in appealing to 
the court and thus “preventing the overthrow of the constitutional order.”
The BHK needs the LHK’s backing in order to be able to lodge such an appeal. The 
LHK did not immediately respond to the initiative.
More Foreign Doctors Arrive In Coronavirus-Hit Armenia
Russia -- Members of a Russian medical team that arrived in Armenia to help 
their Armenian colleagues fighting COVID-19, 
Teams of Russian and Lithuanian medics have arrived in Armenia to help their 
Armenian colleagues increasingly struggling to cope with the coronavirus crisis.
The Armenian Ministry of Health released on Monday photographs of the “first 
group of Russian doctors” who arrived in Yerevan on Sunday.
It said that they are among about 50 healthcare workers in Russia who have 
expressed readiness to treat COVID-19 patients kept in Armenian hospitals. “The 
arrival of the next group is expected in early July,” the ministry added in a 
statement.
About a dozen other medics arrived in Armenia from Lithuania on Friday night. 
The Lithuanian Embassy in Yerevan said their two-week mission is financed by the 
European Union and Sweden’s government. The Lithuanian medics were deployed to 
two Yerevan-based hospitals that were reconfigured in April to treat only people 
infected with the coronavirus.
The Russian and Lithuanian teams also brought with them medical equipment and 
supplies donated to the Armenian health authorities.
Seven other, French doctors travelled to Armenia on June 14 on a similar 10-day 
mission supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development. They are 
expected to be replaced by another French medical team later this week.
Armenia -- Medics at the Surb Grigor Lusavorich Medical Center in Yerevan, 
Armenia's largest hospital treating COVID-19 patients, June 5, 2020.
Armenia is one of the worst hit countries in the region, having registered 
20,588 coronavirus cases as of Monday morning. The authorities in the country of 
about 3 million have reported the deaths of 477 people infected with COVID-19. 
They say that 117 of those deaths were primarily caused by other, pre-existing 
diseases.
The COVID-19 pandemic is putting a growing strain on Armenia’s underfunded 
healthcare system. Health Minister Arsen Torosian warned last week that Armenian 
hospitals are struggling to keep up with the continuing spread of the disease.
Torosian argued that the number of new coronavirus infections is growing faster 
than that of new hospital beds made available for COVID-19 patients. In 
particular, he said, although the total number of intensive-care beds has risen 
by over 30 percent in the last two weeks virtually all of them are occupied now.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
 

                                        Sunday, 
Court Rejects Arrest Warrant Request For Armenian Opposition Leader
        • Naira Nalbandian
        • Artak Khulian
Armenia -- Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian enters a court 
building in Yerevan, 
A court in Yerevan on Sunday refused to allow law-enforcement authorities to 
arrest Gagik Tsarukian, a wealthy businessman leading the main opposition 
Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), on charges strongly denied by him.
The National Security Service (NSS) charged Tsarukian with vote buying and moved 
to arrest him after the Armenian parliament lifted his immunity from prosecution 
on June 16.
The NSS says that Tsarukian “created and led an organized group” that bought 
more than 17,000 votes for the BHK during parliamentary elections held in 2017. 
It claims to have collected documents and testimony showing that the vote bribes 
were handed out to residents of the Gegharkunik province.
Tsarukian and his political allies reject the accusations as politically 
motivated. They say that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian ordered the criminal 
proceedings in response to the BHK leader’s recent calls for the Armenian 
government’s resignation.
Pashinian flatly denied that and any other political motives when he spoke in 
the parliament controlled by his My Step bloc on June 17. “We don’t need to turn 
criminal cases into subjects of political horse-trading so that they make fewer 
[anti-government] statements or watch their language,” he said.
Armenia -- Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian urges lawmakers to allow the arrest 
and prosecution of opposition leader Gagik Tsarukian, Yerevan, June 16, 2020.
The district court in the Armenian capital rejected the arrest warrant request 
for Tsarukian following three-day hearings that ended on Friday. It did not 
immediately publicize its reasons for the decision.
Tsarukian refused to talk to journalists when he came out of the court building 
in Yerevan moments after the announcement of the decision. “Ask my lawyers,” he 
said before getting in his car.
“I am happy that the court proved strong enough to stay away from political 
processes,” said one of the lawyers, Yerem Sargsian. He suggested that during 
the hearings the court found his and his colleagues’ arguments against 
Tsarukian’s arrest convincing.
The defense lawyers said earlier that the NSS failed to come up with any 
compelling evidence of Tsarukian’s involvement in the alleged distribution of 
vote bribes. They also accused the investigators of serious procedural 
violations of the due process.
Armenian prosecutors condemned the court’s refusal to sanction Tsarukian’s 
pre-trial arrest as “baseless and illegal” and said they will appeal against the 
ruling.
A spokesman for Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian said that the court “ignored” 
legitimate justifications of the arrest presented by the investigators. The 
official, Gor Abrahamian, said that Tsarukian could obstruct the investigation 
and exert “illegal influence” on other suspects in the case if he is not placed 
under arrest.
Armenia -- Gagik Tsarukian, oligarch and the leader of the country's largest 
opposition party, arrives at the parliament, June 16, 2020.
The BHK has the second largest group in the Armenian parliament, having finished 
second in the last general elections held in December 2018. Tsarukian’s party 
had joined Pashinian’s first cabinet formed following “Velvet Revolution” of 
April-May 2018. Pashinian fired his BHK-affiliated ministers in October, 
accusing Tsarukian of secretly collaborating with the country’s former 
leadership toppled in the revolution.
Addressing senior BHK members on June 5, Tsarukian accused the government of 
mishandling Armenia’s coronavirus crisis and failing to mitigate its 
socioeconomic consequences. Pashinian and his loyalists reacted angrily to that 
speech.
Tsarukian again linked the criminal case against him to the speech when he spoke 
to reporters on Friday. “If I am to blame for this situation in the country, the 
spread of the [coronavirus] epidemic, this poverty and economic decline, I am 
ready to go [to jail,]” he said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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