Category: 2020

Armenia Constitutional Court President refuses to receive bonuses

Parkev Tvankchian
News.am, Armenia
June 9 2020

17:29, 09.06.2020                           

President of the Constitutional Court of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan has refused to receive bonuses. This is what Chief of Staff of the Constitutional Court Edgar Ghazaryan said during a discussion on the performance of the 2019 State Budget, responding to deputy of the My Step faction Arusyak Julhakyan’s question on the amount of bonuses and surcharges that the judges of the Constitutional Court have received.

“The salaries of the judges and the amounts of their surcharges are prescribed by law, and they differ in terms of a particular judge’s work experience. As in the case of other state bodies, the bonuses of the Court’s judges are also in the amount of 30% of the fund for total salaries, and the Constitutional Court has paid the salaries in the amount of 28.6%. The bonuses are paid under the order of the President of the Constitutional Court. As a rule, the Court tries to pay everyone in the amount of 30%, but the President has refused to receive bonuses for a long time now. Recently, an exception was made for Vahe Grigoryan due to the fact that he doesn’t attend the Court’s sessions,” Ghazaryan said.

From firearms to long-range missile systems: Armenia keeps equipping the military with new armaments

Emil Lazarian
Public Radio of Armenia
June 9 2020

     

Every soldier must be sure that he is better armed and prepared than his opponent, that his weapon is more accurate and far-reaching, Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan said in an extended paper on his vision of priorities of development of the Armed Forces.

He said a large-scale process of equipping the army with new armaments – from firearms to long-range missile systems and combat multifunctional aviation – has already started, but this is the “start of the road.”

According to the Minister, the replenishment of the armed forces pursues several goals.

“The first is the formation of a military potential that will not only curb the enemy’s revanchist ambitions, prevent the temptation to launch large-scale hostilities, but also quickly deprive them of the ability to wage war. This potential is also called tho push ultimatums, preconditions and threats out of the negotiation process on the Nagorno Karabakh conflict,” the Defense Minister said.

Second, he said, the process is aimed at equipping the units of the Armed Forces with mobile, modern and high-precision weapons that will operate in the field of automatic control and will ensure the decentralized independent operations of the units.

“Emphasizing the qualitative rather than the quantitative indicators, the types of armaments and military equipment obtained as a result of the upgrade should exceed the existing weapons and military equipment with their firepower and accuracy, mobility, protection and rapid response capacities,” the Defense Minister added.

Third, Minister Tonoyan said, the goal of the upgrade is to achieve a long-lasting and easy exploitation of armaments and military equipment, requiring fewer human resources.

Fourth, he said, the goal of the replenishment is to reach obvious superiority and neutralize the potential enemy in different areas of combat operations with the most efficient use of available resources.

Armenia Investigative Committee chairman: Gagik Tsarukyan not involved in any case at the moment

Karagyozian Lena
News.am, Armenia
June 9 2020
 
 
18:11, 09.06.2020
 
The Investigative Committee isn’t conducting any investigation regarding leader of Prosperous Armenia Party Gagik Tsarukyan at the moment. This is what Chairman of the Investigative Committee of Armenia Hayk Grigoryan told reporters today.
 
“The Investigative Committee is investigating an episode of Tranche 2 of the North-South Road Corridor Project that concerns the employees of Stons LLC. There are five accused-on-trial involved in the case, and a motion had been filed to arrest them, but the court applied a pledge. Gagik Tsarukyan isn’t personally involved in this case,” he said.
 
Touching upon the dismissals of the heads of power structures and asked if the government is content with the work of the Investigative Committee, Grigoryan said he can’t say if the Prime Minister is content or not.

Tanzania: Armenian, Tanzanian Charged With Fraudulent Use of Communication Network

Emil Lazarian
All Africa
June 9 2020
9 June 2020
Tanzania Daily News (Dar es Salaam)

By Faustine Kapama

ARMENIAN Vardan Mkhitaryan (47) and a Tanzanian Rosemary Mwemezi (32), appeared before the Kisutu Resident Magistrate’s Court in Dar es Salaam yesterday charged with several counts relating to fraudulent use of communication network and occasioning loss to the government.

Before Senior Resident Magistrate Augustina Mbando, the accused persons were not allowed to enter plea to the charges because the case against them falls under the Economic and Organised Crime Control Act.

Other counts include conspiracy to commit an offence, operating electronic communications without a license, use of unapproved electronic equipment, importation and installation of electronic communication equipment without a license and use of unapproved electronic equipment.

The case was adjourned to June 18, 2020, for mention as investigations, according to State Attorney Jacqueline Nyantory, for the prosecution, are incomplete. The magistrate ordered them to remain in remand as her court lacked jurisdiction to entertain anything, including the question of bail.

It is alleged that on diverse dates between October 1, 2019 and May 28, 2020 at various places within the city of Dar es Salaam, Mkhitaryan, who is a Property Manager with Classic Mall and Rosemary, a Security Guard, conspired to commit an offence of fraudulent use of network facility.

The trial attorney told the court that between October 1 and 30, 2019 in Dar es Salaam, Mkhitaryan imported into Tanzania some electronic communication equipment, which are Airtel Wireless Gateways without having a license issued by Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA).

According to the prosecution, the accused persons within the same period installed and operated the said equipment without license and that between October 10, 2019 and May 28, 2020 allegedly used the equipment which were not approved by the Authority.

Within the same period at Mbezi beach area within Kinondoni District in the city of Dar es Salaam, with intent to avoid rates payable for receiving or transmitting international incoming traffic, the two accused persons allegedly dishonestly transmitted international incoming traffic.

The prosecution further alleged that October 10, 2019 and May 28, 2020 at Mbezi Beach area in Kinondoni District, knowingly and by their willful acts, Mkhitaryan and Rosemary caused the government of Tanzania and TCRA to suffer a pecuniary loss of 44,552,175/-.

Meanwhile, the same court sentenced businessman Obadia Kwitega to either pay 5m/- fine or go to jail for one year for providing contents on his online television without license issued by TCRA.

Principal Resident Magistrate Janeth Matega imposed such sentence after convicting the businessman, who runs Bongotimes TV on his own plea of guilty. In addition, the magistrate ordered the convict to pay 2m/-as compensation to the government for committing the crime.

Initially, the businessman had entered into plea bargaining agreement with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in order to end the trial. Following such agreement, which was accepted, the prosecution made some modification of the charges by dropping one count against the businessman.

Before being sentenced, the businessman requested the court to provide him lenient sentence considering that he is the first offender and has several people who depend him. He also told the court that he has a woman whom they would get married soon.

On the other hand, the prosecution, led by State Attorney Faraji Nguka, requested the court to punish the businessman in accordance with the law and the terms and conditions of the agreement in order to serve lessons to him and others who might be tempted to commit similar crimes.

The prosecution had told the court that on diverse dates between January 29, 2017 and March 29, 2019 at various places in Dar es Salaam City, through his online Television known as Bongotimes TV, the businessman provided online contents with license issued by TCRA.


Jeenbekov wished Armenian PM speedy recovery from coronavirus

Garnik Tadevosian
AKI Press, Kyrgyzstan
June 9 2020

AKIPRESS.COM – Kyrgyz President Sooronbai Jeenbekov had a telephone conversation with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan June 9, the press service of the President said.

Jeenbekov wished Nikol Pashinyan a speedy and complete recovery from coronavirus.

The presidents discussed the fight against coronavirus, bilateral cooperation, and cooperation within the Eurasian Economic Union.

Pashinyan tested positive coronavirus in early June. 

US ends funding for Armenian website that spread COVID-19 misinformation

Boshkezenian Garik
Open Democracy
June 9 2020

Following an openDemocracy investigation, the US ambassador to Armenia condemns disinformation and says the embassy will “tighten up procedures”. Armenian:

Tatev Hovhannisyan,   Claire Provost
9 June 2020

The US ambassador to Armenia has announced that its taxpayer money will no longer support a controversial health news website that has spread misinformation about COVID-19, following an openDemocracy investigation. 

Amid ongoing criticism of President Donald Trump for his role in broadcasting unproven claims and conspiracy theories during the pandemic, the ambassador Lynne Tracy said: “We are very opposed to disinformation that confuses the public, that is unhelpful, particularly in a situation like a pandemic.”

In a 4 June interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Tracy said the US is doing its best to help Armenia fight coronavirus, and the embassy has not renewed its funding of the website Medmedia.am because of its “very problematic” content. 

“We’ve certainly learned a few things from this particular episode,” said the ambassador, adding that the embassy will be “tightening up some procedures” as a result, so that its grants promote “healthy debate but responsible debate as well”. 

The previous week, openDemocracy revealed that the most popular article on this website, which had been established last year under a grant from the embassy, called on Armenians to refuse any coronavirus vaccine. 

This article has had more than 131,000 views (a big number in a country with a population of less than 3 million). It and other popular articles were republished, third-party Facebook posts, laid out on article pages under the byline “Med Media”.

Some of these posts also called coronavirus a “fake pandemic”, and vaccines “biological weapons”, and claimed that a morgue tried to fake a COVID-19 death.

Public health experts in both the US and Armenia said this “incredibly dangerous” content could jeopardise the country’s coronavirus response, while openDemocracy’s investigation was cited by media outlets around the world.

“We’ve certainly learned a few things from this particular episode”

Answering questions from Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Harry Tamrazian about openDemocracy’s investigation, the ambassador said “the website in question was part of a larger grant” to a local organisation that had proposed a project focused on reducing corruption in the healthcare sector. 

Tracy, who was appointed ambassador to Armenia last year, said this grant “was awarded about a year ago and it was only very recently, in early May… that we learned that there was some posting of content that was very problematic”. 

“We contacted the grantee and asked for those posts to be taken down”, she said, but this grantee organisation “felt that this was an issue of free speech”. 

“We felt differently: we felt that free speech has to be balanced also with responsible management of a website,” said Tracy, adding that as a result, “we decided on the basis of seeing these issues to not approve an extension”.

The ambassador said the embassy’s grant ended at the end of May, and that the grantee organisation requested an extension that was not approved. It remains unclear what the value of this grant was, but they can be worth up to $50,000.  

Following openDemocracy’s investigation, Gevorg Grigoryan, founder of the grantee organisation, published a statement saying that Medmedia.am made “the voice of specialists and non-governmental organisations audible”. 

He described the investigation as “a manipulative ‘sensation’ typical of globalists”, and said “the author of the mentioned articles is not an employee of the website, but is the chairman of a public healthcare organisation and a doctor by profession”. 

COVID-19 cases in Armenia have now surpassed 13,000 (as of 8 June) with the prime minister among those recently infected. On Monday this week he announced that he had recovered and will return to his usual work schedule.  

“His own situation really underscores just how this virus can reach any of us,” said the ambassador, who called for a “unified effort” to respond to COVID-19 and said that the US had given $5.4 million to the Armenian government to help. 

“I appreciate how open the prime minister has been,” she added. “I think this is a real hallmark of good leadership in a crisis: communication. If the public loses trust because there’s a sense of hiding information, we’re in big trouble.”

In her interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is also funded with US money, Tracy was also asked about other issues including the current ongoing protests against police brutality that have swept her country. 

“The killing of George Floyd was a shocking event, a tragic event, that has been the source of a lot of pain and anguish,” she said, adding that “peaceful protesting is patriotic” and “leaders need to listen” to communities that need to be heard.



Armenian PM sacks army, police & security chiefs for setting bad example amid COVID crisis

Vanyan Gary
Republic World
June 9 2020
Written By
Shubham Bose

Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on June 8 sacked the heads of the Armenian army, police and national security service for having set bad examples over coronavirus restrictions. According to reports, Pashinyan did not elaborate or go into specifics about what lead to the sacking of the heads. However, announcing the sackings on Facebook, he had expressed disappointment with their actions and said that while high-ranking officials have a responsibility to set an example by following anti-epidemic rules, but sometimes the opposite happens.

As per reports, on June 7 the army’s Chief of the General Staff, Artak Davtyan, had held a party to celebrate his son’s wedding. The gathering hosted by Davtyan comes at a time when mass gatherings are banned in Armenia. The announcement reportedly came after the party was reported by a local newspaper. The media house also posted a video online where cars can be seen parked outside the entrance to Davtyan’s house and the sound of music can ve heard in the background.

The chief of police, Arman Sargsyan, or National Security Service chief, Eduard Martirosyan, who were also sacked along with Davtyan were not mentioned in the reports and thus the extent of their violation remains unknown. According to reports, Davtyan has maintained his innocence and claimed that he has not broken any rules, while Arman Sargsyan and Eduard Martirosyan have not yet commented on their dismissals.

Armenia has reported 13,325 positive coronavirus cases and currently has a death toll of 211. As per reports, the county has banned mass gatherings and masks in public places have been made mandatory.

Prime Minister tests positive

Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Armenia reportedly said on June 1 that has tested positive for novel coronavirus while speaking during a Facebook live video. Pashinyan reportedly said that he didn’t show any symptoms and decided to get tested as he was planning to visit the military units. He also added that his entire family got infected of COVID-19.

The Prime Minister added that he would be working from home and believes that he most probably caught the virus from a waiter who brought him a glass of water at a meeting without wearing gloves. On June 8 the Prime Minister also revealed that he and his whole family had fortunately recovered from COVID-19.

Georgian Armenians send 27 ventilators to Armenia

Karakhanian Suren
Public Radio of Armenia
June 9 2020


The “Hayastan” All Armenian Fund launched the “United Against the Pandemic” fundraising campaign within days of the outbreak in Armenia. The campaign has been widely supported by Armenian communities, organizations and partners around the world with the sole purpose of supporting the homeland to overcome the Pandemic as quickly and painlessly as possible.

The latest supporter of this global campaign is the Georgian based “Friends of Armenia, Georgia” initiative. What began as an individual effort by Pavel Oganezov, the director of “Aliq Media” who coordinated the purchase of 10 oxygen concentrators for the Armenian healthcare sector evolved into more involvement and coordination by the Armenian community leading to a further 17 concentrators purchased. As a result, a total of 27 devices were handed to the Hayastan All Armenian Fund at the Georgia-Armenia border late last night.

The Armenian community in Georgia continues its support to the homeland with the “One mask, one life” fundraiser with all funds used to purchase masks for their compatriots in Armenia. The Hayastan All Armenian Fund will coordinate the transportation and logistics related to all of these initiatives and ensure that they are delivered to those most in need.

This initiative has spurred further involvement from other communities with Belgium and Luxemburg also joining the global campaign.

We are grateful to all our donors for their unconditional trust and support. United we can overcome this Pandemic.

Armenian PM sacks army, police and security chiefs over COVID-19 curbs

Emil Lazarian
Reuters
June 8 2020

YEREVAN (Reuters) – Armenia’s prime minister sacked the heads of the army, police and national security service on Monday, saying they had set a bad example over coronavirus restrictions.

Nikol Pashinyan did not spell out what they had done, but the announcement came after a newspaper said the army’s Chief of the General Staff, Artak Davtyan, had held a party for his son’s wedding on Sunday at a time when mass gatherings are banned.

“It’s the high-ranking officials who must show the importance of following anti-epidemic rules with their own example … However, sometimes the opposite happens,” Pashinyan said at a meeting, after announcing the sackings on Facebook.

The newspaper, Hraparak, posted a video online showing the entrance to Davtyan’s house, with cars parked outside and the sound of music in the background.

The report did say who else was at the party and did not mention the chief of police, Arman Sargsyan, or National Security Service chief, Eduard Martirosyan, who were also dismissed.

Davtyan told Armenpress news agency on Monday that the event had been for his son’s wedding, but said he had not broken any rules.

“I didn’t violate anything,” he was quoted as saying. “I just want to remind you that everyone has a right to private life.”

There was no immediate comment from Sargsyan or Martirosyan.

Armenia, the worst-affected country in the South Caucasus region, has registered 13,325 infections and 211 deaths as of Monday.

It extended a state of emergency for one month on May 14 after the number of new daily infections began rising at the end of April. Big gatherings are prohibited and masks are mandatory in public places.

Pashinyan said on Monday he and his whole family had recovered from COVID-19, a week after saying they had tested positive.

Reporting by Nvard Hovhannisyan; Writing by Margarita Antidze; Editing by Andrew Heavens

How much did Armenia President, PM offices, parliament spend in 2019?

Arbi Tashjian
News.am, Armenia
June 9 2020

14:06, 09.06.2020

YEREVAN. – Initially, 1 billion 145 million drams were allocated from the state budget in 2019 for the needs of the President’s Office. Minister of Finance Atom Janjughazyan stated this during Tuesday’s debates on the 2019 state budget performance report, at the joint sitting of the standing committees of the National Assembly (NA) of Armenia.

But, according to him, adjustments were made during the year, and that amount increased by 350 million drams. But in the end, the President’s Office received 248 million drams—or 15 percent—less in 2019 than in 2018. “In fact, 1 billion 452 million drams, or 96% of the adjusted indicator, were used,” the minister said.

As per Janjughazyan, about 5 billion 254 million drams were allocated from the state budget in 2019 for the needs of the NA of Armenia. During the year, this figure was also adjusted and increased to 6 billion 231 million drams. But in fact, 5 billion 821 million drams, or 93.4% of the total amount, were spent. The Minister of Finance noted that 29% more money was provided to the parliament in the year past than in 2018.

Janjughazyan added that, initially, 17.3 billion drams were allocated in 2019 for the needs of the Prime Minister’s Office. But during the year, this indicator was adjusted and increased to 18.9 billion drams. However, according to the minister, 14.5 billion drams of that amount were actually used.