Tuesday, Armenian Parliament Allows Prosecution Of Prominent Ex-General Armenia - Manvel Grigorian addresses members of the Yerkrapah Union in Artik, 15 April 2010 Armenia’s parliament on Tuesday allowed law-enforcement authorities to prosecute one of its members, retired General Manvel Grigorian, and to keep him in pre-trial detention on charges of illegal arms possession and embezzlement. Grigorian, who represents former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK) in the parliament, was arrested on Saturday immediately after security forces raided his expensive properties in and around the town of Echmiadzin. They claimed to have found illegally acquired weapons and stockpiles of food and other supplies meant for Armenian army soldiers. The HHK initially condemned Grigorian’s arrest as politically motivated and demanded his release. But it swiftly changed its stance after the National Security Service (NSS) released on Sunday an extremely embarrassing video of searches conducted in the ex-general’s villas. The televised footage caused widespread shock and anger in the country. It showed NSS officers discovering large amounts of underwear, medication and field rations for soldiers provided by the Armenian Defense Ministry as well as other food donated by ordinary Armenians at a sprawling compound in Grigorian’s native village, Arshaluys. The NSS claimed that he used the canned food to feed tigers, bears and other wild animals kept in his private zoo located inside the compound. It also demonstrated various types of weaponry, including anti-tank guns and rocket-propelled grenades, and ammunition allegedly stashed there. The HHK called the revelations “outrageous” and said it will not hamper the criminal proceedings. Its parliamentary leader, Vahram Baghdasarian, explained on Tuesday that the NSS video “totally changed the situation.” Armenia - Canned food found in a villa belonging to retired General Manvel Grigorian, 17 June 2018. Voting twice in secret ballot, the parliament overwhelmingly sanctioned Grigorian’s arrest and prosecution.Only three members of the 105-seat National Assembly voted against that. Seventy-seven others voted for allowing law-enforcement authorities to keep him behind bars pending investigation. Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian assured lawmakers before the votes that there is sufficient evidence to press the criminal charges against the prominent veteran of the 1991-1994 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The vote was also preceded by angry speeches delivered by several parliamentarians. Naira Zohrabian of the Tsarukian Bloc charged that Grigorian is an “ordinary thief” who benefited from “years of lawlessness” at the behest of the Sarkisian administration. “There are many Manvel Grigorians in our county and they all must be held accountable,” she said. “This is really a disgrace and blasphemy,” said Armen Rustamian, a leader of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation. “We need to seriously think about eliminating consequences of that.” Grigorian himself refused to show up for the debate on his fate. In an open letter released on Monday, he urged the HHK’s parliamentary faction to give the green light to his prosecution. He said he will prove his innocence and “clear my name” during the investigation. Grigorian, 61, served as Armenia’s deputy defense minister from 2000-2008. He is also the chairman of the Yerkrapah Union of Karabakh war veterans, an organization which was particularly influential in the 1990s and the early 2000s. He was reelected to the parliament on the HHK ticket in 2017. Ex-General Denies Corruption Charges • Sisak Gabrielian • Artak Hambardzumian Armenia - Defense Minister Seyran Ohanian (L) and Yerkrapah Union leader Manvel Grigorian at a signing ceremony in Yerevan, 9 September 2014. Manvel Grigorian, a retired army general arrested at the weekend, denies the accusations of illegal arms possession and embezzlement levelled against him, his lawyers said on Tuesday. According to them, Grigorian has told investigators that he has nothing to do with large quantities of food, medication and other items meant for Armenian soldiers which were confiscated from a vast village compound belonging to him. “He has testified that he visited that property rarely, let’s say two or three times a year,” one of the lawyers, Karen Kamalian, told a news conference. “As regards the place where those goods were discovered, he did not have the keys [to its entrance door.]” Another attorney, Arayik Alvanian, claimed that those items were shipped to and from the property by other senior members of the Yerkrapah Union of Karabakh war veterans without Grigorian’s knowledge. Grigorian has headed the organization close to the Armenian military for almost two decades. In an open letter released on Monday, Grigorian pledged to provide documents proving that the warehouse “catered” for Yerkrapah’s legitimate activities, rather than served as a hideout for embezzled military supplies. Alvanian denied any contradiction between that claim and statements made by him and three other lawyers representing the ex-general. The National Security Service (NSS) released on Sunday a scandalous video of searches carried out by its officers at Grigorian’s expensive villas and other properties. It showed them finding large amounts of underwear, medication and field rations for soldiers provided by the Armenian Defense Ministry as well as other food donated by ordinary Armenians. Those supplies were hoarded at the compound located in Grigorian’s native village. The donations were made by local communities, public schools and other civilian institutions during the April 2016 war in Karabakh. Seyran Ohanian, another retired general who was Armenia’s defense minister during the four-day war, said on Tuesday that he “experienced pain” when watching the televised NSS footage. He insisted that he was not involved in or even aware of the alleged embezzlement of donations to the armed forces. “Of course I did not know that,” Ohanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). “A special commission was set up then to handle all kinds of assistance which it distributed in corresponding directions.” He put the blame on unnamed “structures” that delivered such aid to various military units or oversaw that process. A week ago, Ohanian received a summons from tax inspectors investigating suspected financial irregularities committed by Armenian Defense Ministry officials from 2014-2017. The State Revenue Committee (SRC) said the former defense minister will be questioned as a witness. Meanwhile, the recently appointed chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, Major General Artak Davtian, issued a statement on Tuesday implicitly referring to the high-profile case against Grigorian. “Impunity is now a thing of the past,” he declared. Davtian said the Armenian military will join the country’s new government in waging an “uncompromising struggle even against seemingly insignificant abuses.” EU Said To Help New Armenian Government Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (C) poses for a photograph with visiting members of the European Parliament, Yerevan, . The European Union stands ready to help Armenia’s new government implement sweeping reforms promised by it, a senior member of the European Parliament said after visiting Yerevan on Monday. David McAllister, the chairman of the EU legislature’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, headed a multi-partisan delegation of EU lawmakers who met with Prime Minister Pashinian, other senior Armenian officials and civil society representatives during the visit. “This is a key moment for Armenia,” McAllister said in a statement. “To strengthen its democracy, to deepen its relations with the EU and to make long-lasting peace.” “Armenia’s citizens want this, Armenia’s leaders have committed to this and the European Union will be there to help every step of the way,” he added. Pashinian reportedly briefed McAllister and either European Parliament members on his government’s stated efforts to combat corruption, break up economic monopolies hampering faster growth and democratize Armenia’s political system. “The purpose of our actions is to bring about real changes in the country,” he was quoted by his press office as saying. The Armenian premier said last week that he will visit Brussels to meet top EU officials later this month. The EU closely monitored the political crisis in Armenia sparked by former President Serzh Sarkisian’s attempt to hold on to power after serving out his second presidential term on April 9. It repeatedly urged Armenian political factions to end the standoff through dialogue. Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, and Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, sent a congratulatory letter to Nikol Pashinian, the main organizer of massive anti-Sarkisian protests, two days after he was elected prime minister on May 8. “We look forward to cooperating with you in your new position to further strengthen the relations between the European Union and Armenia, particularly through the implementation of the EU-Armenia Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA),” Tusk and Juncker wrote. The CEPA was signed by the former Armenian government last November. It calls for political and economic reforms in Armenia. It also commits Yerevan to gradually “approximating” Armenian economic laws and regulations to those of the EU. Pashinian called for a quick ratification of the CEPA by all EU member states when the Armenian parliament elected him prime minister. McAllister said the European Parliament will vote on the 350-page agreement on July 4. The CEPA’s ratification and implementation will help Armenia attract more EU investment and boost its trade with the EU, added the German lawmaker. Pashinian Denies Pressure On Armenian TV • Artak Hambardzumian Armenia - Employees of the Synopsys Armenia IT company take a selfie with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Yerevan, . Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian denied trying to restrict press freedom in Armenia on Tuesday after warning unnamed broadcasters against disseminating “anti-state propaganda.” “Taking advantage of unlimited freedom of speech, some TV companies have decided to engage in anti-state propaganda,” Pashinian wrote on Facebook late on Monday. “This is probably another case where some people once again mistake the government’s civility for weakness or naivety.” “Don’t do that. Just don’t do,” he warned without naming any TV channel or specifying the reason for his discontent. Pashinian, who himself is a former journalist, declined to name names when he spoke to reporters the following day. “If I name someone it will mean that I want to target them, so to speak,” he said. “I am only voicing alarm and asking them to stop doing that.” “There is no need to go into details,” insisted Pashinian. “I think that attentive readers must have seen that [the Facebook status] said that there is unlimited freedom of speech in Armenia right now. I think you all can see that in your work.” Later in the day, four key journalists of the Armenian Public Television, the country’s leading broadcaster also known as H1, resigned from their jobs. According to the Armenpress news agency, they included the head and the chief producer of H1’s news service as well as two news presenters. There was no word on reasons for their resignation. The news coverage of Armenian TV and radio stations has long been strongly influenced by the country’s governments. In particular, former President Serzh Sarkisian was accused by critics of tightly controlling the political content of their news programs throughout his decade-long rule. Immediately after forcing Sarkisian into resignation and coming to power in a wave of mass protests last month, Pashinian promised that the public and private broadcasters will no longer be receiving government orders. Press Review “Zhamanak” is convinced that the arrested General Manvel Grigorian could not have embezzled food and other supplies to the Armenian army without a “political agreement or sponsorship.” The paper says the alleged theft occurred after public scrutiny over defense spending increased significantly following the April 2016 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. It says that the person who allowed that to happen is even guiltier than Grigorian. “The situation should be assessed by this logic, and in that case perhaps totally different details will emerge,” it says. “The Yerkrapah Union [headed by Grigorian] must cease to be the only pillar of the state and the army,” writes “Zhoghovurd.” “It must stop having a suppressing influence on political developments, which has been the case until now.” The paper says Armenia’s new government must ensure this. “Hraparak” says that it has for years written about a “dictatorial order” established by Grigorian in and around Echmiadzin and argued that there must be no place in the Armenian parliament for the likes of Grigorian. “But the [former] authorities were deaf and blind,” says the paper. “Aravot” says that illegal arms possession is equally “condemnable” in the case of Grigorian or any other individuals and groups resorting to violence. Those include members of the armed opposition group that seized a police base in Yerevan in July 2016. “If this realization takes hold then we will really live in a new Armenia,” the paper says in an editorial. (Tigran Avetisian) 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