Friday,
New Bill Gives More Powers To Top Judicial Body
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenian lawmakers holding a special session of parliament,
The Armenian parliament on Friday voted to amend the current laws related to the
judiciary to give more powers to the Supreme Justice Council.
Eighty-one lawmakers, including representatives of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s majority My Step alliance and several deputies not affiliated with
any faction, voted in favor of the bill, with 15 lawmakers representing the
opposition rejecting it in the second and final reading.
The parliament discussed the draft amendments submitted by My Step during a
special session convened today.
My Step MP Vladimir Vardanian, who co-authored the bill, said the amendments
will ensure “a reasonable examination of judicial processes” by giving
additional powers to the Supreme Judicial Council that guarantees the
independence of judges. In particular, the pro-government lawmaker said that the
body will be able take a case from one judge and assign it to another, examine
the reasons for protracted trials, etc..
With the adopted changes, a citizen will be entitled to lodge a complaint with
the Supreme Judicial Council about the judge examining his or her case. Also,
the amendments limit the number of petitions that parties to the trial can
submit.
“Courts should be independent of the executive, other bodies, of any kind of
external pressure, but not of the law. A judge must be guided by his or her own
conviction and by law,” Vardanian said.
The opposition Bright Armenia faction, however, claimed that the amendments
create opportunities for the government to influence judges.
“If they see, for example, that some judge wants to administer justice by
passing a ruling in favor of a citizen [against the government], they will be
able to replace that judge with someone who will pass a ruling [suitable for the
government],” Edmon Marukian, the leader of Bright Armenia, said, stressing that
he could not vote for a bill that also restrict the rights of lawyers.
Armenian Opposition Set To Continue Street Protests Despite Announced Early
Elections
Supporters of the opposition Homeland Salvation Movement hold a rally in central
Yerevan (archive photo)
A loose alliance of more than a dozen political parties and groups demanding the
resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has said it will continue its
street protests despite the announcement of early parliamentary elections in
June.
Ishkhan Saghatelian, a coordinator of the alliance called Homeland Salvation
Movement, said on Friday that they had “sufficient reasons” to doubt that
Pashinian genuinely intends to resign and hold elections on June 20.
Pashinian announced the date of the vote following talks with Gagik Tsarukian,
the leader of the largest opposition Prosperous Armenia faction in the Armenian
parliament.
Edmon Marukian, the leader of the other opposition Bright Armenia faction, said
later that day that he had a telephone conversation with Pashinian and confirmed
that holding early elections on June 20 was acceptable to his party.
Even though the Pashinian-led alliance enjoys a comfortable majority in the
Armenian parliament, the prime minister has sought a sort of agreement with the
two opposition factions to ensure that they will not field their own candidates
if he resigns and thus will pave the way for the parliament to be dissolved and
new elections to be appointed. Members of Pashinian’s political team have said
this is needed to exclude the risk of upheavals.
The Homeland Salvation Movement, of which Prosperous Armenia is a member, holds
Pashinian responsible for the Armenian defeat in last fall’s six-week war
against Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh.
In recent months it has been holding anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan
and other parts of the country in a bid to force Pashinian to hand over power to
an interim government.
Since late February the opposition alliance has been blocking part of a central
boulevard in Yerevan where the Armenian parliament and several other government
offices are located.
Coordinator of the Homeland Salvation Movement Ishkhan Saghatelian
Talking to media on Friday, Saghatelian said that the movement may introduce
some “tactical changes” in its struggle, but will stick to its main agenda
according to which Pashinian must resign and a provisional government be formed
before preterm elections can be held in at least a year.
The Homeland Salvation Movement has named Vazgen Manukian, a 75-year-old
opposition politician who led Armenia’s government in the early 1990s, as a
candidate to replace Pashinian as prime minister. It says Manukian and his
political party will not take part in the eventual early elections, which,
according to the movement, will ensure his neutrality as the organizer of the
vote.
Saghatelian said that Pashinian’s announcement of early elections was yet only a
statement and that the opposition has no reason to trust it “based on the
previous experience.”
At the same time, the coordinator of the opposition movement warned that if
elections are held with the Pashinian government left in charge of organizing
the electoral process, the vote may trigger a new crisis instead of settling the
ongoing one.
“We find that snap parliamentary elections are a necessary condition for getting
out of the current situation, but if Pashinian continues to act as prime
minister during the election period, there is a great risk that the elections
will not be competitive and that there will be no equal conditions [for
participants]. And there is a great chance that such elections will be rigged.
In that case, instead of becoming a way out of the current crisis, these
elections may trigger a new crisis,” the coordinator of the Homeland Salvation
Movement concluded.
Azerbaijan Urged To Investigate Torture, Other Abuses Against Armenian POWs
Armenian captives return to Armenia from Azerbaijan, December 15, 2020
RFE/RL - Human Rights Watch (HRW) is calling on Azerbaijan to investigate all
allegations of ill-treatment against Armenian prisoners of war from last fall’s
war over the Nagorno-Karabakh region, and to hold those responsible to account.
Azerbaijani forces subjected POWs to “cruel and degrading treatment and torture
either when they were captured, during their transfer, or while in custody at
various detention facilities,” the New York-based human rights watchdog said in
a statement on March 19.
It said Azerbaijan should also immediately release all remaining Armenian POWs
and civilian detainees and provide information on those who were last seen in
Azerbaijani custody.
“The abuse, including torture of detained Armenian soldiers, is abhorrent and a
war crime,” said Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at HRW.
“It is also deeply disturbing that a number of missing Armenian soldiers were
last seen in Azerbaijan’s custody and it has failed to account for them,”
Williamson added.
HRW said it had interviewed four former POWs who described “prolonged and
repeated beatings” while in Azerbaijani custody.
“One described being prodded with a sharp metal rod, and another said he was
subjected to electric shocks, and one was repeatedly burned with a cigarette
lighter,” the group said, adding that the men “were held in degrading
conditions, given very little water and little to no food in the initial days of
their detention.”
HRW also cited “scores of videos” posted to social media showing scenes in which
Azerbaijani officers can be seen apparently ill-treating POWs.
The watchdog said it had verified more than 20 of these videos, including
through interviews with repatriated POWs and family members of servicemen who
appear in the clips but have not yet returned.
Raising concerns that POWs still in Azerbaijani custody are at risk of further
abuse, HRW urged Azerbaijani authorities to ensure that the detainees “have all
the protections to which they are entitled under international human rights and
humanitarian law, including freedom from torture and ill-treatment.”
Six weeks of fighting between Armenia and Azerbaijan in and around
Nagorno-Karabakh ended in November with a Moscow-brokered cease-fire deal. More
than 6,000 people were killed during the conflict.
Under the truce agreement, a chunk of Nagorno-Karabakh and all seven districts
around it were placed under Azerbaijani administration after almost 30 years of
control by ethnic Armenian forces. The agreement also provided for an exchange
of POWs and other detained people.
The number of Armenian POWs still in custody is unclear.
By the end of February, Armenia had asked the European Court of Human Rights to
intervene with Azerbaijan regarding 240 cases of alleged prisoners of war and
civilian detainees, according to HRW.
Armenia has said that its neighbor had returned 69 POWs and civilians.
Azerbaijan claimed it had returned all the POWs to Armenia but was still holding
about 60 people suspected of terrorism.
HRW said it could not verify the claims by Baku or Yerevan about the numbers of
people remaining in custody or their status.
Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but the
ethnic Armenians who make up most of the region’s population reject Azerbaijani
rule.
They had been governing their own affairs, with support from Armenia, since
Azerbaijan’s troops and Azeri civilians were pushed out of the region and seven
adjacent districts in a war that ended in a cease-fire in 1994.
Armenia Claims Aliyev ‘Prepares Ground’ For Vandalism In ‘Occupied’ Karabakh
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva visit Fuzuli
and Khojavand (Martuni) districts, March 15, 2021
Armenia sees the latest visit of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev to parts of
Nagorno-Karabakh that Yerevan claims were occupied by Azeri forces during last
fall’s six-week war as preparation for “another act of vandalism” against the
local Armenian religious and cultural heritage.
In a statement released on March 18 the Armenian Foreign Ministry, in
particular, referred to Aliyev’s visits earlier this week to the Hadrut district
and the town of Shushi [called Susa in Azeri] that fell under Azerbaijan’s
control as a result of the hostilities.
Both areas were part of the Nagorno-Karabakh autonomous oblast inside Soviet
Azerbaijan, with Hadrut being predominantly populated by ethnic Armenians.
“Statements made by the president of Azerbaijan in the Hadrut district reveal
the intention to destroy Armenian settlements and replace them with the
Azerbaijani ones, which violates the provisions of the trilateral statement of
November 9, 2020, according to which the displaced people must return to their
places of residence. It also proves that the Armenians of Artsakh [the Armenian
name for Nagorno-Karabakh] cannot survive under the Azerbaijani control,” the
ministry said.
“Moreover, within the framework of its policy of ethnic cleansing, Azerbaijan is
undertaking consistent steps aimed at eliminating and appropriating the Armenian
cultural heritage of Artsakh. In parallel with the physical destruction of the
cultural monuments of Artsakh, which are currently under its control, Azerbaijan
at the highest level has resorted to a deplorable practice of falsifying
historical facts and alienating religious and cultural values of the Armenian
people. It is with this purpose that the president of Azerbaijan misrepresents
the nature of the Armenian church of the 17th century in the village of Tsakuri
of the Hadrut district distortedly claiming it to be so-called “Albanian” and
labeling the Armenian inscriptions on its walls as “fake”, thus preparing the
ground for yet another act of vandalism,” it added.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry emphasized that “there cannot be a solid and
lasting peace if it is based on the destruction of peaceful settlements of
Artsakh, its historical-cultural heritage, annihilation of the Armenian
population and the replacement of Armenian settlements with Azerbaijani ones.”
“We will continue our struggle for a just and dignified peace by working closely
with our international partners,” the ministry concluded.
Azerbaijan denies it has destroyed or intends to destroy any religious or
cultural values of Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh, stating that the Armenian
heritage in the region will be preserved under Baku’s administration.
Baku considers the whole territory of Nagorno-Karabakh, including currently
Armenian-controlled areas where Russian peacekeepers have been deployed as part
of the November 9 ceasefire brokered by Moscow, to be an integral part of
Azerbaijan. Yerevan argues that the final status of the region has not yet been
decided.
Responding to the statement of the Armenian Foreign Ministry, official Baku said
on Friday that “the visit of the president of Azerbaijan to Azerbaijani
territories cannot be a subject for commentaries of the Armenian Foreign
Ministry.”
“The Armenian side still does not understand that it is necessary that it should
move away from such rhetoric and set itself for the realization of the signed
trilateral statements,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry said.
Armenian Minister ‘Ready To Bear Responsibility’ After Incident With Journalist
Armenian Minister of High-Tech Industry Hakob Arshakian (archive photo)
Armenian Minister of High-Tech Industry Hakob Arshakian has apologized to the
public that witnessed his brawl with a journalist in a cafe, saying he is ready
to bear responsibility for his behavior.
CCTV footage appeared on social media on Thursday evening showing Arshakian
approaching Paylak Fahradian, chief editor of the Irakanum.am news website, who
was sitting at a table in one of Yerevan cafes, and hitting him in the face in
the presence of at least five other customers, including the journalist’s
colleague.
Another video showed that some time before that the journalist approached the
minister, who was having a lunch at another table downstairs, and talked to him
for about a minute recording the conversation on his telephone.
Fahradian later said he had asked why the minister was having his lunch at a
café during working hours when he was supposed to be at work.
As seen on the video, Fahradian then left, going to his table upstairs. Minutes
later Arshakian followed him upstairs where the incident took place.
The journalist said he was injured in the attack and his notebook was damaged.
He claimed the minister also threatened him before the attack.
In a Facebook post later on March 18 Arshakian implied that his reaction was to
the journalist’s swearing at his family.
“Every citizen has the right to the inviolability of private and family life.
Any member of our society, be he an official or a journalist, is first of all a
person with emotions who is especially sensitive to issues related to his
family,” the minister wrote.
Saying that he is against any violence and is guided by the principle of
settling disputes with “civilized methods”, Arshakian apologized to those
citizens who witnessed the incident and “whose peace I disturbed with my
actions.”
“I am ready to bear the responsibility for the incident,” the minister concluded.
Earlier, the Prosecutor-General’s Office said it had forwarded the report from
Fahradian about the attack to the Special Investigative Service.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s spokesperson Mane Gevorkian told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service on Friday that Arshakian’s dismissal was not considered at the
moment.
Meanwhile, leading media organizations have called the behavior of the minister
unacceptable, demanding that the authorities condemn it.
Armenia Redeploys COVID-19 Hospitals Amid Rise In Infection Rate
• Marine Khachatrian
Medical workers at the Surp Grigor Lusarovich Medical Center in Yerevan, the
country's largest hospital treating coronavirus patients (archive photo)
Armenia is redeploying some of its hospital resources to treat COVID-19 patients
as the rate of the coronavirus infection has again been on the rise in the South
Caucasus country lately.
About 790,000 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus and more than
3,300 people have died of COVID-19 in Armenia since the start of the pandemic
last March. The number of active cases today is nearly 10,000.
Armenia’s Health Ministry said on March 18 that 19 people died from the
infection within the past 24 hours, while the number of new identified cases was
over 1,000.
This is about the same rate that Armenia last had in fall when the so-called
second wave of the pandemic was observed globally.
Now healthcare specialists in Armenia believe the country is experiencing a
“third wave” of the pandemic.
Health Minister Anahit Avanesian said that 12 medical centers are currently
involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients in Armenia and new hospital beds
are being added.
Armenian Health Minister Anahit Avanesian
“But you know that this is not an unlimited resource, and we need to exercise
caution,” the minister warned.
The rise in the infection rate in Armenia may also reflect the latest mass
political events taking place in the country as both the government and the
opposition have been holding large-scale rallies in recent weeks.
Armenia’s Health Ministry sees no need for a new lockdown at the moment, but
warns that mandatory mask wearing and social distancing rules must be followed
by the public to curb and reduce the rate of infections.
Avanesian said that while limited vaccination with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine
focused on high-risk groups, including medical workers, is currently under way
in Armenia, the government continues negotiations on acquiring a vaccine
developed by British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical AstraZeneca and Oxford
University.
The minister said that final decisions will be made on the basis of conclusions
of professional international organizations.
Several European countries have suspended the use of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus
vaccine due to reported negative side effects, including fears it may have
caused some recipients to develop blood clots.
When asked whether this was not a reason for Armenia to suspend talks on the
acquisition of AstraZeneca’s vaccine, Avanesian said: “This, of course, is a
signal to be vigilant, to keep abreast of the latest news and take action
accordingly.”
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on March 18 said the vaccine is "safe and
effective" and not associated with a higher blood clot risk, prompting most
European countries to lift the suspensions.
Russia To Help Extend Armenian Nuclear Station’s Life Until 2036
• Sargis Harutyunyan
A general view of the Metsamor nuclear power plant in Armenia
Russia will help Armenia extend the life of its nuclear power plant for another
10 years until 2036, according to the director of the station.
Addressing a conference on the development of nuclear energy in Armenia in
Yerevan on March 18, Movses Vardanian said that a working group is being set up
jointly with the Russian Rosatom Corporation for that purpose.
The plant’s sole functioning reactor went into service in 1980 and was due to be
decommissioned by 2017. Armenia’s government decided to extend the life of the
420-megawatt reactor by 10 years after failing to attract billions of dollars in
funding for its ambitious plans to build a new and safer nuclear facility.
In 2015, the Russian government provided Yerevan with a $270 million loan and a
$30 million grant for major safety upgrades at Metsamor. The modernization work
is expected to be completed in 2023.
The Soviet-built plant located in Metsamor, 35 kilometers west of Yerevan,
generates roughly 40 percent of Armenia’s electricity.
“At the initiative of Rosatom and the Armenian nuclear power plant (NPP), we are
currently setting up a new technical working group to work on extending the life
of the [Armenian NPP] beyond 2026. Rusatom Service will mainly be involved from
the Russian side,” Vardanian said.
He said the extension will add 10 more years to the life of the station.
Yuri Sviridenko, the Russian head of the project, said that the Armenian nuclear
power plant “can definitely work after 2026.”
“Preliminary estimates have been made, according to which the station can be
operated until 2036. But these, I repeat, are preliminary estimates that still
need to undergo an examination and receive approval from the Nuclear Safety
Regulatory Commission. We are now at this stage,” he said, citing the example of
several European countries where the operation of nuclear plants using the same
reactor has been extended.
According to Tigran Melkonian, the head of the Energy Department of Armenia’s
Ministry of Local Government and Infrastructure, the extension of the operating
life of the existing nuclear power plant does not mean that the Armenian
government does not intend to start building a new nuclear station.
“The government will make a decision taking into account the reliability of the
energy system, the rates and regimes of export, the amount of funding and
sources. Before that, a program will be developed on what capacity the reactor
will have and in what timeframe and with what funding it will be built. In any
case, this is the goal, and we are adjusting our work, which includes the
extension of the life of the existing nuclear reactor and its future replacement
with a new one,” Melkonian said.
Ara Marjanian, a United Nations expert on energy in Armenia, said that the
nuclear power plant is of key importance for the energy security of the country,
and, therefore, the preservation of the nuclear power plant and the construction
of a new one are among the priority tasks of ensuring the national security of
Armenia.
“We have only two facilities that guarantee [the country’s] energy security.
These are the Vorotan Cascade hydro-power plant and the Armenian NPP. It is not
without reason that the new strategy states that Armenia must have a harmonious
three-component [energy] generation system, and nuclear energy is an integral
part of our energy security strategy,” the expert said.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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