Published since 07.2002
Published on April 04, 2008
CALLING FOR ORDER: COE GROUP REMINDS AUTHORITIES FOR NEED OF LEGISLATIVE REVIEWS
- Senior visiting Council of Europe diplomats warned Armenian authorities this week that having political prisoners was unacceptable for a member country of this organization. Representatives of the Ago Group of the CE Committee of Ministers monitoring Armenia’s compliance with commitments to this organization in particular presented a six-point proposal on how to end the internal political crisis as they met Armenia’s leadership earlier this week. Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan, delegation head Per Sjogren emphasized that it was inadmissible for a Council of Europe member country to have political prisoners. He also said that the Ago Group delegation he had led to Armenia was the largest to visit Yerevan since the monitoring process began, which he said was the response to the post-election developments in Armenia. “The Council of Europe views Armenia as a major regional partner and for this very reason it is important for us to be informed on the situation here. We also place importance on a political solution to this situation and a return to the democratic path,” the Swedish diplomat said. During the week the Ago Group delegation held meetings with Parliament Speaker Tigran Torosyan, urging him to reaffirm his commitment to the principles of their cooperation. In particular, it was said that draft legislation to be adopted by Armenia’s National Assembly should be sent to Europe for reviews by experts. The concern stemmed from the amendments to the Law “On Meetings, Public Rallies, Marches and Demonstrations” recently adopted by Armenian lawmakers. The Europeans also expressed their concern over the new draft amendments to Armenia’s penal code to be presented in parliament at its next four-day session next week (April 7-10). Speaker Torosyan said that because of the March 1 events in Yerevan it was impossible to send the amendments to the law on assemblies for an expert conclusion. Nevertheless, Sjogren emphasized that the Venice Commission’s findings should be assumed as a basis for changes made in the law to be reconsidered. While in Yerevan, the Ago Group’s delegation was also received by Prime Minister and President-elect Serzh Sargsyan. “We never rejected a dialogue – whether before the election or after we have constantly been in dialogue with different political forces and have had success,” Sargsyan said. “As a result, a political coalition has been formed after both the parliamentary and presidential elections, despite the fact that the vote received by the Republican Party was enough to form government single-handedly.” On Sunday, the Strasbourg-based organization’s delegation also met Armenia’s first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan. According to a report by Ter-Petrosyan’s press center, during the meeting the sides discussed the current situation in Armenia and ways to resolve it. Ter-Petrosyan reportedly reaffirmed his commitment to the proposals made by the European Union presidency, considering them as the best scenario for ending the crisis. Representatives of parliamentary factions also met with Council of Europe representatives. Stepan Safaryan, of the opposition Heritage faction, told the Group members that an independent, impartial investigation into the March 1 events was crucial for defusing the political crisis. And his fellow faction member Zaruhi Postanjyan described the amendments made in the law on assemblies as anti-constitutional and incompetent. “Human rights are violated in Armenia today, people who did not commit criminally punishably offenses are arrested, subjected to administrative penalties. The changes planned in the Criminal Code of Armenia are also aimed at restricting human rights,” she said. Orinats Yerkir party leader Artur Baghdasaryan admitted that there were violations during the election, but said they did not have an essential impact on its final outcome. Speaking about the four-party coalition agreement, he said that they had a political agreement with President-elect Sargsyan on making reforms. Another former presidential candidate Vahan Hovhannisyan, of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, said: “First of all, it is necessary to enlarge the opposition’s rights by legal means, provide opportunities for extra-parliamentary forces to display themselves and express their opinions. And also [it is necessary] to set up a body enjoying public prestige, a public chamber.” They also said that all proposals made by them so far have been accepted and the way they are translated into action will determine their future steps. In connection with the March 1 events, the Prosperous Armenia Party’s faction, according to its secretary Aram Safaryan, has two approaches and considers that those who committed crimes must be punished and treatment of the group of people persecuted for their convictions should be different. Republican Party member Rafik Petrosyan assured the Council of Europe representatives that it was the calls for dismantling the state power voiced during opposition-led demonstrations that had resulted in a situation where along with measures taken by the executive, lawmakers had to amend the law on public rallies. But the governing party’s lawmaker added the amendments did not contradict any convention or international norm. Stepan Safaryan says that it is yet early to give estimations to the points presented in the Ago Group’s proposals. “Nevertheless, their proposals are aimed at a complex removal of the root causes of the situation. And if Armenia’s authorities do not meet the demands of their own opposition, then if these demands are put forward by an international structure, they exhibit readiness to meet them,” Safaryan says. “It is regrettable, but it is a fact, a behavior adopted by our authorities.” Political analyst Aghasi Yenokyan is of a different opinion. According to him, the proposals of the Ago Group made to both sides will bring to a zero situation, it is a good basis on which it is possible to start serious negotiations. “However, in reality other processes will take place. The authorities will show that they agree and in essence will agree to dialogue, but will not do anything. As always, it is the manner of action for the authorities,” Yenokyan says.
- Gayane Mkrtchyan
Headlines for April 04, 2008
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Armenia’s parliament is set to consider proposals advanced by a Council of Europe delegation on ways to end the country’s current political crisis in the aftermath of the post-election developments. ...LET THE LEGAL BATTLE BEGIN: 13 COMMITTED FOR TRIAL, SOME OF THE REST GO ON HUNGER-STRIKE
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By his order signed April 2, President Robert Kocharyan relieved Lieutenant-General Manvel Grigoryan of his position of Deputy Minister of Defense, the presidential press service reported without elaborating. ...SPORT: UNBEATEN KING ARTHUR READY TO MEET “THE GHOST”
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In a matter of days Armenia’s second president Robert Kocharyan will be handing over the reins of power to his chosen successor. The out-going president will hope to stay in the memory of the nation he ...PAYBACK TIME: MANY BILKED DEPOSITORS RECOVER A FRACTION OF THEIR LOSSES; A MAJORITY VEXED AT PROCESS MECHANICS
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Despite the pre-election and post-election turmoil, compensations of lost Soviet-era bank savings were paid to more than 1,600 citizens in February. But many of the bilked depositors still remain angry ...CONNECTED: KAPAN UNIVERSITY EQUIPPED, WAITING FOR DISTANCE LEARNING
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Sargis Manukyan, 37, candidate of technical sciences, is one of those unique lecturers who crosses the Yerevan-Kapan highway to deliver a lecture at the Kapan branch of the State Engineering University ...MOTHER NATURE WRECKS NKR: SEVERE STORM AFTERMATH IN NAGORNO KARABAKH
Naira HayrumyanRepair works of damage caused by a late March storm in Nagorno Karabakh are still in process. The wind speed reached 50 meters/second: old-timers say they haven’t seen such strong wind for the last 50 ...RECOGNITION VERSUS BRINKSMANSHIP?: KOCHARYAN LEAVING OFFICE AMID AZERBAIJAN’S INTENSIFIED SABER-RATTLING
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In less than a week President Robert Kocharyan will leave his office having served two full consecutive five-year terms, leaving to his successor, among other things, a still unresolved dispute with Azerbaijan ...GUILTY: TER-PETROSYAN VANADZOR SUPPORTER INTERFERED WITH PROCESS COURT SAYS
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A resident of Vanadzor is to pay 300,000 drams (about $1,000) fine for violations during the February 19 presidential elections in Armenia. The Prosecutor General of the Lori province charged 59-year-old ...CALLING FOR ORDER: COE GROUP REMINDS AUTHORITIES FOR NEED OF LEGISLATIVE REVIEWS
Gayane MkrtchyanSenior visiting Council of Europe diplomats warned Armenian authorities this week that having political prisoners was unacceptable for a member country of this organization. Representatives of the Ago ...CAUSE AND CLAIM: ARRESTS CONTINUE AMID ALLEGATIONS OF POLITICAL MOTIVATION
Gayane AbrahamyanCritics call it a “witch hunt”, authorities call it good police work. Labels aside, Armenia remains under a police alert that leaves citizens out for a stroll or going about their normal work liable to ...TAXING TIMES: NEWSPAPERS NOT FRIENDLY TO GOVERNMENT GET VISITS FROM INSPECTORS
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Last week, when staff writers of the radical opposition Chorrord Ishkhanutyun newspaper, as usual, were working on some pungent stories on the government, tax inspectors visited the paper’s office and ...TARGETED: HUNTING COMPANY IN CROSSHAIRS OF CONTROVERSY OVER BIRDS
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The recent revelation of an Italian-based hunting company operating in Armenia has raised concern among environmentalists that some species of birds here may become extinct if regulations are not imposed ...SUN SHINE: SPECIAL SCANNER BRINGS LITERATURE, MUSIC TO BLIND
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A device developed by Armenian scientists opens a new world for the blind and visually impaired. Arev (Sun) is a scanner that recognizes text, then transfers it to a computer voice that reads in Russian, ...“NOT ACCEPTABLE”: EUROPEAN BODIES AGAINST NEW LAWS ON ASSEMBLY
Two of the most influential bodies of European diplomacy have condemned Armenia’s recent legislative amendments banning public assembly, approved by the National Assembly in the wake of March 1 post-election ...
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Today in Armenian history- 1820 Birth of Catholicos Mkrtich Khrimyan "Hairik" in Van (Western Armenia). He died in 1907.
- 1915 Death of Arshak Vramian, a representative of the Central Committee of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Party.
- 1920 Genocide of the Armenians in Sooshee (Gharabagh).
- 1922 Death of Leopold Favri, benefactor and Swiss-Armenian armenologist. He supported orphanages in the Armenian provinces.
- 1945 Death of Vahan Tekeyan, writer, speaker, and public figure. He was born in 1878.
- 1957 Death of actor Ashot Shaghatoonee. He was born in 1882.
- 1995 Garegin I elected Catholicos of the Armenian Church. He became the 131st Spiritual Leader of Armenian Holy Apostolic Church.
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