Category: 2021

                                                Friday, March 5, 2021
Court Frees Armenian Government Critic
        • Robert Zargarian
Armenia - Ara Saghatelian.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals on Friday set free a government critic who was 
arrested late last month for allegedly creating a social media account that 
spreads offensive comments about the country’s leadership.
The National Security Service (NSS) charged Ara Saghatelian, a former chief of 
the Armenian parliament staff, and three other men with calling for violence and 
criticizing government actions in breach of martial law declared during the 
autumn war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
The NSS claimed that the “group” led by Saghatelian did that through a Facebook 
page opened in the name of a certain “Gagik Soghomonyan.” It cited in particular 
the “fake” user’s abusive statuses blaming Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian for 
Armenia’s defeat in the war, branding him a “traitor” and insulting his 
supporters.
All four men denied the accusations. Courts of first instance freed two of them, 
including former parliament deputy Karen Bekarian, while Saghatelian and the 
fourth suspect were remanded in custody pending investigation.
The Court of Appeals overturned a Yerevan judge’s decision to allow the 
two-month pre-trial arrest of Saghatelian, who had also run a government-funded 
public relations agency during former President Serzh Sarkisian’s rule.
“This whole process is a political process organized and guided by the country’s 
leadership,” Saghatelian told reporters after his release.
He again denied any connection with “Gagik Soghomonyan.”
The Facebook page has continued to be updated on a virtually daily basis after 
the arrests condemned by the former ruling Republican Party and other opposition 
groups.
Pashinian Seeks Direct Control Over State Bodyguard Agency
        • Satenik Hayrapetian
Armenia -- A security service officer monitors an opposition demonstration from 
the Armenian parliament building, Yerevan, March 3, 2021.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has moved to gain full and direct control over a 
state agency that provides bodyguards to him and other current and former 
Armenian officials.
The State Protection Service (SPS), which also protects key state buildings, is 
currently part of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS).
A bill drafted by Pashinian’s office would separate the SPS from the NSS and 
make it directly subordinate to the prime minister. An explanatory note attached 
to it says that this would help the SPS “rapidly react to the situation on a 
daily basis” and “take appropriate actions.”
The Armenian government will decide later this month whether to formally approve 
the bill and send it to the National Assembly.
Nina Karapetiants, a civil rights activist, said the proposed change of the 
SPS’s status suggests that Pashinian does not trust the NSS, whose directors 
have been frequently replaced during his nearly three-year rule.
“It is obvious that the prime minister is trying to place under his direct 
control those structures which he can trust,” Karapetiants told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian Service. “This means that he distrusts the NSS so much that he has 
trouble entrusting it with his life.”
Areg Kochinian, a political analyst, linked the bill with heightened political 
tensions in the country and, in particular, opposition attempts to topple 
Pashinian over his handling of last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
“International practice shows that as a rule such agencies are not part of other 
bodies,” he said. “There is the Secret Service in the United States and the FSO 
in Russia. They are directly subordinate to the country’s leader. So this is 
normal in terms of international experience.”
Still, Kochinian questioned the wisdom of turning the SPS into a separate 
agency, saying that this would run counter to Pashinian’s past promises to 
streamline the state apparatus through major staff cuts. He said that the SPS 
would require more government funding if it is separated from the NSS.
Pashinian already plays a decisive role in the choice of the head of the SPS. 
The latter is nominated by the prime minister and appointed by the president of 
the republic.
Armenian Generals Shun Ceremony Led By Defense Minister
        • Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian and other officials visit the 
Yerablur Military Pantheon in Yerevan, March 5, 2021.
Only one high-ranking officer of the Armenian army’s General Staff attended on 
Friday a ceremony led by Defense Minister Vagharshak Harutiunian amid its 
continuing standoff with the government.
Harutiunian, senior pro-government parliamentarians and other officials 
accompanying him laid flowers at the grave of Vazgen Sarkisian, a former prime 
minister and one of the army’s founders assassinated in 1999, to mark his 62th 
birthday anniversary.
The annual wreath-laying ceremony had traditionally been attended by most senior 
generals. Only one of them, Andranik Makarian, visited at the Yerablur military 
pantheon with Harutiunian this time around.
Makarian, who is a deputy chief of the General Staff, was among a handful of 
officers who refused to sign last week a joint statement by the military’s top 
brass that accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government of misrule and 
demanded its resignation.
Pashinian rejected the demand as a coup attempt and drafted a presidential 
decree relieving the chief of the General Staff, Colonel-General Onik Gasparian, 
of his duties. President Armen Sarkissian appears to have delayed Gasparian’s 
sacking at least until March 8.
Makarian declined to explain his refusal to sign the military’s unprecedented 
statement when he was approached by reporters at Yerablur. “All officers of the 
Armenian army are in the army and stand with the army,” he said, refusing to 
comment further.
Harutiunian was also reluctant to comment on the standoff which deepened a 
post-war political crisis in Armenia. “Dear journalists, today is Vazgen 
Sarkisian’s birthday and I’m not going to answer any questions,” he said.
Harutiunian was appointed as defense minister in November shortly after a 
Russian-brokered ceasefire that stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. He is 
believed to remain loyal to the prime minister.
Pashinian’s Election Offer ‘Still Not Discussed’ By Tsarukian’s Party
        • Tatevik Lazarian
Armenia -- Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian speaks at an 
opposition rally in Yerevan, February 20, 2021.
The opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) remained on Friday in no rush to 
respond to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s offer to hold snap general elections.
Senior representatives of the party led by Gagik Tsarukian said it has not yet 
discussed the proposal aimed at ending the political crisis in the country 
deepened by the Armenian military’s demands for Pashinian’s resignation.
“We will refrain from voicing personal opinions about the issue until the 
[BHK’s] Political Council headed by Gagik Tsarukian discusses the proposal and 
presents our political position on it,” one of them, Iveta Tonoyan, told 
reporters. She did not say when the council could meet for that purpose.
Tonoyan also said that Tsarukian will not meet with Pashinian until the BHK 
leadership formulates its position. “A meeting between Gagik Tsarukian and Nikol 
Pashinian is not planned now,” she added.
Pashinian expressed readiness to organize fresh elections on Monday amid renewed 
anti-government protests staged by an alliance of opposition parties, including 
the BHK, trying to oust him over his handling of last year’s war with 
Azerbaijan. He said that their conduct is conditional on consensus among his My 
Step bloc, the BHK and the second opposition party represented in the 
parliament: Bright Armenia (LHK).
Pashinian and LHK leader Edmon Marukian met but failed to reach any 
election-related agreements on Thursday. Marukian said he insisted during the 
meeting that Pashinian must stop trying to sack the country’s top army general, 
Onik Gasparian. The prime minister rejected that condition, he said.
Unlike Tsarukian’s party, the LHK is not part of the opposition alliance that 
set up a tent camp outside the parliament building last week. The alliance 
called the Homeland Salvation Movement is scheduled to hold its next rally on 
Saturday.
RFE/RL President ‘Disturbed’ By Attacks On Azatutyun Journalists In Yerevan
RFE/RL President Jamie Fly (archive photo)
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) President and Chief Executive Officer 
Jamie Fly has expressed his concern over recent attacks on RFE/RL Armenian 
Service (Azatutyun) journalists in Yerevan.
“I am disturbed by physical and verbal attacks on Azatutyun journalists covering 
the February 23 protests in Yerevan. Our journalists are only trying to bring 
live news reporting to our audiences in Armenia,” Fly said in a statement from 
Washington on March 4.
“While I am heartened that Armenia’s Investigative Committee has initiated a 
probe that could result in criminal charges against those who obstructed the 
legal professional activities of Azatutyun’s journalists, I urge Armenian law 
enforcement to make sure that all journalists can do their jobs without fear of 
harm,” he added.
RFE/RL Armenian Service journalists RFE/RL Armenian Service journalist Artak 
Khulian and cameraman Karen Chilingarian, on assignment to provide live coverage 
of the opposition protests in Yerevan on February 23, were attacked by a group 
of protesters who kicked them, used abusive language against them, and damaged 
their equipment.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee announced on March 3 that it had opened a 
probe into the attack, after a criminal case was opened by the Central Police 
Department under Article 164, Part 1 of the Criminal Code (“Obstruction of the 
legitimate professional activities of a journalist”).
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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