Monday, January 8, 2017 Garegin Laments Hardship In Armenia Armenia - Catholicos Garegin II celebrates a Christmas mass at the Echmiadzin cathedral of the Armenian Apostolic Church, 6Jan2018. Catholicos Garegin (Karekin) II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, called for more government action against poverty and injustice in Armenia as he celebrated a Christmas mass at the Echmiadzin cathedral on Saturday. "Along with the achievements gained through the unshaken will and dedication of our people, our country is still facing unemployment and poverty," Garegin said in a homily read out during the service attended by senior government officials. "There is a need for continuing efforts to strengthen hope for the future, faith in justice, and to overcome the social, economic, and other challenges facing our national life," he added in an apparent appeal to the Armenian government which he rarely criticizes in public. A key member of the government, Defense Minister Vigen Sargsian, participated in the liturgy as a ceremonial "godfather" of a large cross with which Garegin blessed holy water inside vessels placed on the ancient church's altar. Garegin also deplored lingering hardship as well as wars and other conflicts around the world. "In this time of defense of human rights, the rights of people and nations are being violated," he said. "In our days of dialogues, many people become subject to intolerance, hatred on a religious basis, terrorism; and become victims of various kinds of violence." "Drug addiction, alcohol abuse, and other kinds of addictions, become evil to societies and families: people addicted to these become unable to properly organize their lives, some find themselves in despair and commit suicide," he went on. Armenia - Worshipers light candles during a Christmas Eve service at a church in Yerevan, 5Jan2018. The Armenian Apostolic Church, to which the vast majority of Armenians nominally belong, has traditionally marked Christmas on January 6. Celebrations of the holiday start late on January 5 with Christmas Eve candlelight services held in churches in and outside Armenia. Christmas became a public holiday in the South Caucasus country after the break-up of the Soviet Union. In his latest Christmas message, Garegin urged the church faithful to become "new souls free of sins." "By accepting in our hearts infant Jesus, let us keep strong our faith and our pious path of life so that we may always enjoy the care and endless love of God," he said. Garegin decried attempts to "build a world without God" in June 2016 during a mass held in Echmiadzin in the presence of the visiting Pope Francis. He said they are at the root of political, socioeconomic and even environmental problems facing humanity. In a joint declaration issued at the time, Francis and Garegin similarly voiced concern at the declining role of religion and "the crisis of the family" in many Christian nations. They also reaffirmed their opposition to same-sex marriage. Jailed Oppositionists Still On Hunger Strike . Anush Muradian Armenia -- Arayik Khandoyan (R) and another gunman seen at a police station in Yerevan seized by an armed opposition group in July, 2016. Three arrested members of an armed opposition group that seized a police station in Yerevan in 2016 are continuing a hunger strike which they began last month in protest against their prison conditions. One of them, Armen Bilian, was the first to start refusing food at Yerevan's Nubarashen prison in mid-December. He was joined by another gunman kept there, Smbat Barseghian, shortly afterwards. Both men are demanding their transfer to another, more modern and less crowded prison located near Armavir, a town 40 kilometers west of the Armenian capital. Bilian and Barseghian stand accused of murdering three police officers during the armed group's July 2016 standoff with Armenian security forces. The gunmen demanded that President Serzh Sarkisian free the jailed leader of their Founding Parliament movement, Zhirayr Sefilian, and step down. They laid down their weapons two weeks after storming a police compound in the city's Erebuni district. The third prisoner, Arayik Khandoyan, went on hunger strike on December 29 in what he called a show of solidarity with his two comrades. Khandoyan began the protest after being taken to a penalty isolation ward at Nubarashen. The prison administration claimed to have found two mobile phones and bootleg alcohol in his regular cell. Khandoyan's lawyer, Ara Gharagyozian, on Monday dismissed the alcohol claim as "absurd." But he admitted that his client kept the phones in breach of Armenian prison rules. "There are cellphones in all prison cells," Gharagyozian told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "They've just confiscated a cellphone from another client of mine and but have not transferred him to an isolation ward." Gharagyozian insisted that Khandoyan, who remained in solitary confinement as of Monday afternoon, was punished for his defiant behavior at one of the three ongoing trials stemming from the Erebuni standoff. He accused the prison administration of keeping Khandoyan in "inhuman conditions." "The isolation ward is freezing," the lawyer claimed, adding that his client complained of health problems when he visited the latter earlier in the day. Representatives of Armenia's human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, also visited and spoke to Khandoyan on Monday. Armenian Government Offers Concession To Protesting Car Owners . Sisak Gabrielian Armenia - Right-hand drive cars block a street in Yerevan during a protest held by their owners, 7Jan2018. The Armenia government offered on Monday to ease its planned restrictions on the use of right-hand drive cars in Armenia, bowing to protests staged by some of their owners. Like most countries of the world, Armenia uses right-hand traffic which requires steering wheels to be on the left side of vehicles. Nevertheless, the authorities in Yerevan have not prevented imports of a growing number of right-hand drive cars over the past decade. According to the Armenian traffic police, there are presently 32,000 such cars in the country. Most of them are cheap second-hand vehicles manufactured in Japan. Police officials say they cause a disproportionately large share of traffic accidents. The Armenian Ministry of Transport and Communications recommended late last year a formal ban on imports of right-hand drive vehicles that would come into effect in April. A government decision drafted by the ministry would also ban sales or donations of such cars that are already in use in Armenia. The move triggered a series of protests in Yerevan by angry car owners who say that it violates their property rights. They dismiss safety concerns cited by the ministry, saying that it has not come up with any statistics on the number of accidents caused by right-hand drive cars. The protests resumed on Sunday, with dozens of cars driving through Yerevan and temporarily blocking traffic on some of its thoroughfares to demand that the government abandon its plans. They were about to continue on Monday when it emerged that the government is ready to make a major concession to the protesters. An amended draft decision posted on a government website would allow them to continue using or reselling their cars in Armenia while maintaining the ban on car imports. The protest organizers responded by cancelling a planned demonstration outside Prime Minister Karen Karapetian's office. "We have achieved the fulfillment of our main demand," said one of them. The organizers made clear at the same time that they continue to demand that the government refrain from the import ban as well. They said they may therefore resume protests later this week. A minority of the protesting drivers rejected the government concession and continued to demand a meeting with Karapetian. Protest leaders were already received by Transport Minister Vahan Martirosian last month. A senior official from the Transport Ministry told them on Monday that the government is open to further discussions. "You can again submit your proposals," the official said. "We are ready to discuss them." Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2018 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org