Eduard Sharmazanov writes: “The United States House of Representatives to release the Armenian prisoners of war in Baku the call deserves a high and positive evaluation.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the US House of Representatives called on Azerbaijan to release the Armenian prisoners of war held in Baku.

The commission voted in favor of Azerbaijan with 44 votes in favor and 7 “against”, calling on unconditional and immediate release of all Armenian hostages, amending H.R. In Bill 9087 (Law on Diplomatic Service of the House of Representatives).

This amendment was introduced by Congressman Brad Sherman (Democrat, California), the vice-chairman of the Armenian Affairs Committee of the Congress, with the support of the chairman of the committee, Brian Mast (Republican, Florida).

This initiative is extremely important and proves that there are figures in the ranks of both the Republican and Democratic parties in the USA who condemn this anti-humanist action by Baku.

The issue of the release of Armenian prisoners of war held in Baku should become the primary component of our state and nationwide political campaign.”

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“100 Armenian Women” initiative issued a statement.

“One week ago, the “100 Armenian Women” initiative, which includes scientists, cultural figures, entrepreneurs, various fields and civil leaders, sent an urgent appeal to foreign diplomatic missions and international structures accredited in Armenia, including the US Embassy, ​​the EU delegation, the UN, the Council of Europe, the UK Embassy, ​​high-ranking EU representatives, embassies of all EU countries and other organizations.

The application presented in detail the worrying reality that is deepening in Armenia day by day, in particular. The complete subjugation of the judiciary to the executive, the targeted prosecutions and lengthy, arbitrary detentions of political and civil opponents, including women leaders, the illegal use of police force and an incredible increase in repression at the state level, unconstitutional violations of property rights, the de facto seizure of companies and massive economic repression of opponents.

In order to protect the participants of the initiative from state prosecutions, arbitrary arrests and professional pressures, we initially applied to all organizations under the condition of confidentiality, however, the seven-day stone silence of the international community has passed seven days after sending the application. In the conditions of seven days of judicial violations, arbitrary arrests and violation of civil rights, those international structures and diplomatic representatives, which declared themselves guardians of democracy and the rule of law, maintain a deafening silence. This passivity is not neutrality. this is a manifestation of diplomatic adaptation, which legitimizes state crimes in Armenia and sends an impulse of absolute impunity to the executive power. Today we reject that silence and present our collective speech to the public. We take this step fully aware of the serious personal, legal and professional risks involved. However, when secrecy serves only to hide state wrongdoing from the eyes of the international community, anonymity becomes an unacceptable compromise.

We declare with full responsibility. if any participant of this initiative is subject to state repression, arbitrary persecution or professional pressure after this announcement, the responsibility will also be borne by the international community, whose silence makes these illegalities possible at the RA state level. Our Demand We call on international partners, accredited ambassadors and multilateral institutions. Publicly break this chain of silence. Give a clear and objective assessment of the loss of independence of the judiciary, the practice of using detention as a punitive tool, and the state policy of targeting political and civil opponents and public voices. Officially respond to the applications submitted by the civil society. End the practice of silently archiving urgent civil society alerts and form an accountable, transparent dialogue with independent civil society. Make any international support conditional on the full protection of human rights. Ensure that the diplomatic, financial and political partnership with RA is strictly conditioned by the actual fulfillment of international obligations, and not by political expediency.

We did not make our professional merits to silently observe how the democratic foundations of our country are systematically destroyed. Armenia’s democratic future cannot be sacrificed to diplomatic adaptation. We expect an early response to our public call,” the statement of the initiative states.

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Immediately after the end of the elections, the process of politically motivated confiscation of private property gained new momentum in the country.

The government justifies its actions with the need to return property of illegal origin to the public and protect the public interest. While it is noteworthy that this policy is again applied exclusively to influential political opponents.

Such selectivity raises the question. Is this really an anti-corruption policy or politically motivated retaliation through property redistribution? What is happening forms a solid public perception of selective justice.

As a result of the measures taken, the government assumes the functions of an economic entity, establishing control over various economic sectors of the country and enterprises related to significant financial flows. However, the transfer of the asset to the state does not in itself guarantee the efficiency of management and does not eliminate corruption risks. It only changes the environment of occurrence and reproduction of risks.

A situation has been created where the government simultaneously acts as both the owner and the regulator, and the authority that makes managerial decisions about the enterprises that have come under its control.

In the absence of transparent and dignified procedures for the appointment of professional managers, boards of independent directors and managers, an obvious conflict of interest arises. it is possible to compensate the consequences of inefficient management at the expense of budget funds or increased tariffs, and unjustified economic or politically motivated commercial decisions can be justified with abstract conversations about “strategic” and “social” problems.

This practice is contrary to the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation (OECD) 2024 Corporate Governance of State-Participated Enterprises. landmarks.

They demand to clearly separate the ownership function of the state from the functions of market regulation and policy making, to provide operational independence to state enterprises and to form their boards with professional, dignified and transparent procedures. The OECD emphasizes that combining the roles of regulator, owner and market participant creates a conflict of interest and undermines a level playing field.

The accumulated experience of state management of commercial assets in Armenia does not inspire optimism. The most obvious warning is the fate of the notorious ANIF, about which all public questions and discussions remain a “dialectic wasteland”.

This state fund operated for years without a clear mandate, accountability mechanisms and performance indicators. In 2024, after the disappearance of huge budget funds, the RA government adopted a decision to stop the activities of ANIF and liquidate it. The government not only failed to report on the failure of its own “strategic initiative”, but also placed the entire financial burden of its consequences on the state budget, i.e. the taxpayers.

The public was never presented with a comprehensive conclusion about which managerial decisions led to the failure, who was personally responsible for them, what institutional changes are needed in the state asset management system to prevent the recurrence of such problems in the future. The lack of answers to these and other important questions allows us to conclude that the purpose of ANIF’s liquidation was to cover up the “case” and clean up the tracks, without the necessary legal and political consequences.

Lack of accountability and transparency are key issues in the management of assets confiscated and transferred to the state. First of all, we do not have a unified public register of assets transferred to the state. Then, it is not known on what basis the managers are elected, what goals are set before them and by what standards their activities are evaluated.

It is unacceptable that there is a lack of comparable data on the value of assets at the time of transfer and formed after the period of state administration, received revenues and budget expenditures, liabilities, purchases, transactions with major partners and related parties. It is even unknown whether the object in question is functioning and what decisions are taken on behalf of the state, or rather, the taxpayer.

Under these conditions, statements about “restoration of justice” or “strategic importance” of assets become slogans covering up management failures, non-transparent decisions and abuses.

According to the OECD guidelines, SOEs must be held to the same high standards of accounting, information disclosure, compliance and auditing that apply to private companies. Their financial statements must be audited annually by an independent auditor. State control or state audit cannot replace external audit.

In order to exclude the above-mentioned risks, in addition to the legal grounds for expropriation, the current status and estimated value of each enterprise transferred to the state, information about the managers, the goals of public ownership management, financial results, the amount of state support, as well as the scenario of further management, such as keeping the enterprise under state ownership, transferring it to a specialized operator, or privatizing it through an open tender, must be publicly presented.

Financial statements and performance audit results should be published regularly, not after a scandal or liquidation. Otherwise, the lack of information does not allow either to assess the validity of the decisions taken or to analyze the effectiveness of the management of confiscated assets.

Therefore, the main question is not how much property the government has confiscated, but how much it has preserved and increased its value, provided professional and accountable management and measurable public benefit.

The main guarantee against turning nationalized enterprises into a source of political rent is not the high-sounding words about “state interest” and “restoration of justice”, but the pre-defined and published goals of their management, professional management, independent audit, transparency, and the inevitability of personal responsibility in case of failure to ensure the specified results of economic activity.

ARMEN MARTIROSYAN

Deputy of the RA Supreme Council and the National Assembly (1990-99)

Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Armenia

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Ruben Rubinyan, acting as the Speaker of the National Assembly and the next Speaker of the National Assembly, signed an order to distribute the reward amount for the National Assembly among the deputies, civil servants and employees of the National Assembly.

Ruben Rubinyan signed this order on July 21, but it appeared on the NA official website yesterday, July 23.

“Guided by Article 5, Part 2, Clauses 12 and 22 of the National Assembly Rules of Procedure, I order:

1. According to the Law “On the State Budget of the Republic of Armenia for 2026” and the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Armenia N-1062 of July 16, 2026, the amount of the reward provided for the National Assembly should be distributed among the deputies of the National Assembly, civil servants and employees of the National Assembly, according to the appendix.

2. Head of the staff of the National Assembly-Secretary-General D. ARAKELYAN to ensure the execution of relevant payments in accordance with the procedure established by the legislation of the Republic of Armenia,” the order signed by Rubinyan states.

It should be noted that this month the deputies of the National Assembly, state employees have already received a reward twice, the decree was signed by Alen Simonyan, who is leaving the position of NA Speaker.

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The issue of car parking in the capital continues to concern drivers, especially those drivers who dutifully pay for “red lines” every month, but when it’s their turn to park their car in one or another part of the city, they face a problem.

Many citizens have already applied of 168.am editorial office that in the capital they cannot park a car in front of all shops and non-state office buildings, because they are not allowed, saying that the area belongs to the shop or office, therefore, only the employees there can park the car.

Who should protect the rights of those drivers who pay the parking fee, but do not use the parking lot for almost the entire month? Do shops or offices have the right to “own” the entire parking lot?

Vahagn Sahakyan, President of the Branch Union of Taxi Services of Armenia in other words, in reality, neither the Yerevan Municipality is acting according to the law, considering the collection of “red line” fees, nor the owners of shops or other establishments that keep the area only for themselves.

“We pay a separate toll for those roads, which includes both the traffic and the stop. They supposedly gave it separate regulations, but it is still illegal. You cannot pay twice for one service. the property tax of the car includes the road fee, and paying a separate fee for parking the car on the same road is illegal.

They want to explain to us that if they don’t do that, people will stop their cars and leave, they won’t come back for days, but this is not the answer of either the Government or the Municipality. If they hired people who work with the money we gave them and cannot make regulations, they complicate people’s lives even more, they take extra money to make these regulations in their own way, this is already an attempt to undermine the foundations of the state, which is working very well for them.” of 168.am said Vahagn Sahakyan in a conversation with

According to our interlocutor, the municipality is breaking the law, violating people’s rights, when it started putting payments for “red lines” into circulation.

“If the community allows such illegality and the Government turns a blind eye, why shouldn’t the supermarket and other institutions do it?” Whoever protects human rights has no right to violate those rights. When you start having a conversation, there have been many times such a conversation, the state department starts to switch to “kitchen” conversations and says, “Well, what should we do?” They say, what should the “clients” of the store do, and this is in the case that they were once obliged to raise a question against the store, if a store is being built, then it is obliged to provide a parking space, so that they do not disturb others.

I repeat, what they are doing is illegal. They turned the state into a “laundry house” – they launder money,” added Vahagn Sahakyan.

Continuing the thought, he said that the situation in almost all post-Soviet countries is the same as in Armenia, it is the same “menagerie”, and civilized countries have solved this problem long ago.

“But on the other hand, our citizens are also at fault, they bring cars and park them in yards, even in front of garages, when you say you are disturbing them, they ask in surprise, where should we park the car?” This question should not be asked to me, but to the relevant authorities.

If the state bodies do not think, at least the car buyer should think about where he will park his car.

The whole problem also comes from the fact that the capital has become very dense, what business did Yerevan have to be so dense? Years ago, I did a study to present to the Public Council, I calculated how much the green space allocated to each resident in Yerevan is less than allowed. According to the requirements of the World Health Organization, one resident should have 50 square meters of green space, but in Yerevan it is 0.4 square meters, can you imagine? By my calculations, I came to the idea that a car with an average volume engine uses the oxygen of 80 people. And after all this, building permits are issued again every second,” he emphasized.

According to Vahagn Sahakyan, all of this shows the absence of the Government, this is the result of the absence of the Government, if there was, nothing like this would have happened. And this means that they are temporary, the others will not be chosen tomorrow, they will go to live in another country, because those people, who live at the expense of other people’s nerves and oxygen, their children have homes in other places for a long time.

“The problem should be raised constantly, let them prove that they are paying money according to the law, and what does it mean if a person pays for the “red line” and has no place to park, they are not able to solve this problem,” emphasized Vahagn Sahakyan.

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The next court hearing in the case of 22-year-old Pargev Hakobyan, who was brutally beaten in Etchmiatsin in April last year and died a few days later in the hospital, is scheduled for August. is the stage of questioning witnesses.

Pargev Hakobyan’s mother, Aida Grigoryan according to him, during the interrogation of the witnesses, he, Pargev’s friend who was with him that day, and the boy’s grandmother were also questioned.

Aida Grigoryan is convinced that the boy, who was with her son that day, was intimidated, they clearly told him what to say, because he is very cautious and choppy in his testimony.

“In the beginning, he said something completely different, now he denies it, he gives very clear, short answers that he did not see who beat Pargev, he does not remember them, he says that he had just operated on his nose, and at that time he held his nose so that the blows did not reach his nose. The same goes for the boy’s grandmother. Meanwhile, in one of the published videos, the same grandmother said something else, and now she claims that she does not know anything and did not see anything.

We are in an uncertain situation, I wonder what they are going for, they want to make it so that they put all the blame on one brother and release the other brother. I’m scared to think what could happen next.” of 168.am Aida Grigoryan said in a conversation with

According to our interlocutor, the lawyer of the two brothers who appeared in the accused’s chair petitions at almost all court sessions to replace the detention of his clients with house arrest, these petitions are still rejected by the judge. They also mediated house arrest for a bail of 59 million drams, but were again refused.

“And those people say: what is the difference if they are in a detention center or at home?” I want to understand whether there is any difference, whether they took a person’s life and go home to sit quietly, is there any difference?

Of course, I’m afraid, I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, maybe the court will decide to give house arrest, and those who don’t know the state of probation, then what should they do so that they don’t leave the house during house arrest?

He also said that he will not be silent in any way, he will fight no matter what.

“I will not bring my son back, but I will not leave them to live peacefully. A public figure is arrested for a single statement, they are not given house arrest. But people took my son’s life, are you interceding for them to be placed under house arrest? I feel pain for our reality today,” stressed Aida Grigoryan.

Let’s remind that the incident took place on April 23, 2025, in Etchmiadzin.

The reason for this incident with a tragic ending was that when the young man’s car was passing through a puddle, water poured onto the car standing next to it, the window of which was open… a dispute arose, the young man was brutally beaten by a group, due to which he died in the hospital in May. In this case, two brothers, Gor and Valerik Arakelyan, appeared in the accused’s chair.

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