Category: News

The Armenian authorities must urgently ensure an impartial, independent and thorough investigation into allegations that police used excessive force – including dousing people with water cannon – to disperse a mainly peaceful demonstration before arresting more than 200 protesters on the streets of the capital Yerevan early this morning, Amnesty International said.

Yerevan police said they arrested 237 people after a crowd marched away from round-the-clock protests in a central square towards the presidential headquarters. Since 19 June, thousands of people have taken part in the demonstrations against rising electricity prices in Yerevan and elsewhere, including the town of Gyumri where 12 others were arrested.

“For the Armenian authorities to disperse what was up until then a peaceful demonstration is a heavy-handed tactic that must be avoided to protect the right to freedom of expression and assembly. Video footage showing high-powered jets from water cannon flinging peaceful protesters to the ground is a cause for concern,” said Denis Krivosheev, Deputy Europe and Central Asia Programme Director at Amnesty International.

“It is our understanding that the Armenian authorities are investigating the protesters for ‘hooliganism’, rather than the heavy-handed police response. They must not do this at the expense of an impartial and independent investigation into the police’s alleged use of excessive force, including water cannon, against demonstrators who may have obstructed traffic but were peaceful. Any security forces found responsible of violations must be disciplined or prosecuted.”

In a statement, police said that stones were thrown and that at least seven protesters and 11 police officials were injured. No serious injuries were reported.

Police and an eyewitness also confirmed that journalists were targeted as well as peaceful protesters. Despite the journalists showing press credentials, police confiscated and damaged video equipment.

“The allegations that police specifically targeted journalists have worrying implications for freedom of expression, and must also be independently investigated,” said Denis Krivosheev.

James Horner, the Hollywood composer who wrote the score for the Oscar-winning film hit Titanic, has died in a California plane crash aged 61, the BBC reports.

A trained pilot, he is reported to have been alone aboard a small private plane which crashed north of Santa Barbara on Monday morning.

The two-time Oscar winner worked on three James Cameron films, as well as A Beautiful Mind, Troy and Apollo 13.

He won one Oscar for the Titanic film score and one for its theme song.

The plane crash left an impact crater and sparked a brush fire that had to be put out by firefighters, local fire authorities said.

The Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) today elected Armen Harutyunyan as judge to the European Court of Human Rights in respect of Armenia.

Mr Harutyunyan, having obtained an absolute majority of votes cast, is elected a judge of the European Court of Human Rights for a term of office of nine years which shall commence no later than three months after his election.

Judges are elected by PACE from a list of three candidates nominated by each State which has ratified the European Convention on Human Rights.

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian has commented on the statements of some foreign Embassies accredited to Armenia and international organizations regarding Tuesday events in Yerevan.

“We view these reactions as a proof of the interest of our partners to see democracy reinforcing in Armenia,” Minister Nalbandian said in comments to Public TV.

“We once again reiterate Armenia’s committment to democracy and protection of basic freedoms and human rights,” Edward Nalbandian added.

“Competent bodies are carrying out investigation and taking necessary steps to correct the mistakes pointed out by the Police, and our partners will be informed about the results,” the Minister concluded.

Protests renewed in Yerevan today after the Police used water cannons to disperse the sit-in on Baghramyan Avenue early in the morning.

The Police issued a statement, urging the protesters to refrain from any violation of law, and warned it will resort to actions reserved by law in case of any violation of public order.

The Police also reminded the organizers of the rally that they carry personal responsibility for the protection of rights and security of the participants.

“Let’s remember that we are the citizens of the same country and are responsible not only for the security and future of each other, but also the country, as a whole,” the statement reads.

The protests were sparked by the decision of the Public Services Regulatory Commission to increase power tarriffs from August 1, 2015.

In her newly published memoir of her 2010-2013 term as American Ambassador to Hungary, Eleni Kounalakis discusses the U.S. State Department’s loss of faith in the administration of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, according to a June 19 review by the

In what the Post describes as a “far more forthcoming book — personally and analytically — than one would expect from a diplomat”, Kounalakis details her disappointment at what she saw as the Hungarian governmentʼs backsliding toward a more totalitarian government, similar to the one Hungary had under communism. Instead of the “New Deal” that they had anticipated, Kounalakis writes, Hungarians were getting “the Old Deal, with government having too much control over the people of Hungary all over again.”

According to the Post review: “It took the release of an ax murderer to raise alarms in Washington. In late August 2012, Orban suddenly repatriated Ramil Safarov, an Azeri serving a life term in Hungary for hacking an Armenian soldier to death during a NATO-sponsored training program. To nobody’s surprise, Safarov received a hero’s welcome in Azerbaijan and was immediately pardoned, promoted and given a new apartment. Armenia cut off diplomatic ties with Hungary, and tensions escalated in Nagorno-Karabakh, over which Armenia and Azerbaijan had fought a war in the early 1990s.”

“Don’t they realize that their little trick could cause a war?” Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Marie Yovanovitch asked Kounalakis on the telephone.

“Who will clean it up — Hungarians? No, Hungarians won’t clean up the mess. We will! We will be the ones left to fix it!”

Kounalakis reveals that this diplomatic fracas was ultimately what “ended Hungary’s two-decade status as a reliable strategic partner of the United States,” according to the Post.

That little trick, Kounalakis says, ended Hungary’s two-decade status as a reliable strategic partner of the United States.”

The 16th edition of the International Human Rights Film Festival () organized by the DerHumALC Multimedia Institute and sponsored by Grandmothers of Plaza de Mayo, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, Relatives of the Disappeared and Detained for Political Reasons and the Armenian National Committee of South America was launched on Wednesday June 17th, reports

One of the festival sections will be the “Focus on Armenia”. The Armenian films that will be screened are “A World Without Men”, “Beyond the Ararat”, “Memories without Borders”, and “Tevanik”. Carolina Karagueuzian, Director of the Armenian National Committee of Buenos Aires and one of the jury members of the festival, said that the films related to Armenia “are materials that account the current consequences of this genocide that even today, after almost a century, remains unpunished and continually denied by its perpetrator, the Turkish State and, in recent years, with the support of its strategic partner, Azerbaijan.”

“It is important to remember in this festival, which focuses on the Armenian Genocide, that the genocide was completely unpunished. There were trials, but there was also denial,” added Vera Jarach, member of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo. Florencia Santucho, the festival director, detailed that they will screen 112 films from 39 countries in a total of eleven cultural centers.

The opening ceremony was attended by important figures and defenders of human rights, like the President of Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo Estela de Carlotto, Vera Jarach and Nora Cortinas, representatives of Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo, the organizations that search the stolen and illegally adopted children of the Argentine Dirty War. The event was also attended by Judge Daniel Rafecas, Undersecretary for Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism of the City of Buenos Aires Claudio Avruj, member of Human Rights Secretary of Argentina Carlos Pisoni, along with Alfonso Tabakian and Carolina Karagueuzian, from the Armenian National Committee of South America.

DerHumALC Multimedia Institute is an organization created in 1999 in Argentina to “strengthen the treatment and study of topics on human rights from civil society.”

David Lemieux of Montreal knocked down Frenchman Hassan N’Dam four times and won the vacant International Boxing Federation middleweight title with a unanimous decision early Sunday morning, reports.

Lemieux (34-2) dominated the bout, flooring N’Dam (31-2) once in the second round, twice in the fifth and again with a left hook in the seventh to win the title.

Lemieux’s impressive performance in a fight broadcast in the U.S. on the Fox network may earn him some high profile bouts. There is already talk of a clash with WBA champion Gennady Golovkin, or a bout with the winner of a proposed match in November between WBC champ Miguel Cotto and Mexican star Saul (Canelo) Alvarez.

David Lemieux (born December 22, 1988 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) is a Canadian professional boxer. Lemieux fights in the middleweight division. He is the current IBF Middleweight Champion and former WBC International Middleweight Champion.

According to , Lemieux is of French and Armenian descent. He began boxing at the age of nine.

Lemieux’s mother is Lebanese Armenian, her last name is Khavloudjian. He speaks fluent Armenian.

Woman who abandoned Down Syndrome baby in Armenia has reunited with the child, the reports.

The wife of a New Zealand father who abandoned him and their newborn baby in Armenia after discovering the baby had Down Syndrome has denied she is now back living with them both because of the huge amount of cash raised for their cause.

Samuel Forrest, from New Zealand, made international headlines in February when he started a fundraising campaign to help raise baby Leo after his Armenian wife Ruzan Badalyan abandoned them in Armenia where he ran his own business. 

More than $600,000 was raised. But since then Ms Badalyan has returned to her husband and child despite filing for divorce a week after Leo was born in her home country.

The fact Mr Forrest is now $600,000 richer thanks to the money that was raised for Leo, is not the reason why Ms Badalyan changed her mind, she told 3News. She is just delighted to be reunited wither her son.

‘It was the happiest day,’ she says. ‘He was so small, so cute. I remember I hugged him. He started making some noises. He was so cute. I was very happy.

‘I undressed him and skin to skin, he did that noise. He’d do it a bit for me, but in his sleep he did it for a whole hour like a little kitten. He knew he’d found his mummy.

‘I was afraid he wouldn’t remember me. It was very scary but hopefully he did. At that moment I realised I could never let him go.

‘I’m not an ideal mother; I’m simply a mother. But I’m doing my best.’

She has asked not to be judged by New Zealanders – it has not been revealed exactly where in the country they are living – but that they can just be left alone to get on happily as a family.

Armenian international Gael Andonian is expected to sign his first professional contract with Olympique de Marseille, La Provence said Sunday.

In coming days Olympique de Marseille will sign professional contracts with three young players from the second team – Gael Andonian (20), Bill Tuiloma (20) and Stéphane Sparagna (20).

Andonian currenly plays as center back at  Olympique de Marseille 2 and his contract expires on June 30.

Andonian debuted for the Armenian national team in a EURO 2016 qualifier against Albania on March 29.