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    Categories: 2018

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 09/05/2018

                                        Wednesday, 

Investment Firm Sues Armenia Over Railway Deal

        • Sisak Gabrielian

Armenia - A railway bridge in northern Lori region

A Dubai-based investment company has filed a lawsuit with the International 
Court of Arbitration, demanding that the Armenian government pay it 
compensation in the amount of $160 million related to the planned construction 
of an Armenia-Iran railway.

Rasia FZE, which is registered in the United Arab Emirates, has undertaken to 
build the rail link.

The information about the international lawsuit against Armenia was confirmed 
on Tuesday by Minister of Transport, Communications and Information 
Technologies Ashot Hakobian.


Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technologies Ashot 
Hakobyan at a press conference in Yerevan. 04Sept.,2018

According to the minister, the company claims that it incurred losses as a 
result of the actions of the Armenian side. “We believe that this is not 
logical. The reason is that during this period with the purpose of supporting 
the project representatives of the Armenian government were in China where this 
issue was also discussed. And Rasia FZE today cites some reasons, saying that 
this affected their further programs,” the minister explained.

Plans for construction of a railway linking Armenia and Iran were announced in 
2008 by then-President Serzh Sarkisian. Before the 2013 presidential election a 
concession contract was signed with Rasia FZE. Since then, however, the company 
has not built a single meter of railway.

“The company only prepared a feasibility report and submitted it to the 
Ministry, and the Ministry made numerous remarks on it. After that, the company 
was repeatedly invited to discuss the implementation of its concession 
obligations, but all the invitations remained unanswered,” said Hakobian.

The minister is convinced that the Armenian government has solid arguments in 
case of litigation. “I think that our positions are strong and there is no 
cause for concern. However, we will not be doing nothing. Measures are being 
taken. The government has already invited a prestigious international 
organization to defend our interests,” Hakobian said.

The governments of Armenia and Iran have discussed the railway project for more 
than a decade. So far, however, Yerevan has failed to attract an estimated $3.2 
billion needed for building the 305-kilometer-long Armenian section of the 
railway.




2008 Post-Election Events Need Thorough Investigation, Says U.S. Envoy

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Richard Mills at a conference dedicated to 
franchising business opportunities at the Armenia Marriott Hotel, Yerevan, 
5Sept., 2018

Washington’s view remains that “there has been a need for a thorough and fair 
investigation into the events of March 2008,” United States Ambassador to 
Armenia Richard Mills said on Wednesday, commenting on recent developments in 
the probe concerning deadly post-election violence that took place in Armenia a 
decade ago.

In late July Armenia’s former president Robert Kocharian was charged with 
breaching the country’s constitutional order by illegally using the armed 
forces against opposition supporters who protested against alleged fraud in a 
disputed presidential election. Eight protesters and two police personnel were 
killed when security forces broke up those demonstrations on March 1-2, 2008.

Kocharian spent more than two weeks in custody before being released by the 
Court of Appeals that cited a constitutional provision giving the ex-president 
immunity from prosecution.

Several other former senior officials, including Colonel-General Yuri 
Khachaturov, the current head of the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty 
Organization, have also been charged in connection with the 2008 events.

These developments appeared to have particularly irked Russia whose foreign 
minister Sergei Lavrov within a space of just one month twice commented on 
Armenian internal affairs.

On July 31, Lavrov denounced the prosecutions, arguing that they run counter to 
the new Armenian leadership’s earlier pledges not to “persecute its 
predecessors for political motives.” And earlier this week Lavrov repeated his 
concerns. “Of course, we are worried by the circumstance that the situation in 
Armenia remains heated, events that happened 10 years ago are being 
investigated… No doubt, we consider those to be an internal affair of Armenia 
and wish that internal affairs remain within the framework of law and on the 
firm basis of the Constitution and be overcome quickly,” the top Russian 
diplomat said.

In response to the question of RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) whether 
he considered such comments to be interference in Armenia’s internal affairs, 
U.S. Ambassador Richard Mills said: “I have seen those comments. It’s for the 
Armenian government to respond to comments from the Russian government.Our view 
remains that there has been a need for a thorough and fair investigation into 
the events of March 2008. And it is important that that investigation be 
carried out in accordance with the rule of law and Armenian due process.”

Mills talked to media today on the sidelines of a U.S.-Armenian business 
conference on franchise opportunities.

“We are here today for a very important development in the U.S.-Armenian trade 
relationship, that is a one-day conference that the embassy is sponsoring to 
bring together Armenians interested in franchise opportunities with U.S. 
corporations and businesses. And I think it shows that we believe that there 
are real opportunities here for U.S. business and for Armenian business to 
prosper together in the new Armenia,” the U.S. ambassador said.

“This conference today brings together over 50 Armenian government and business 
people as well as representatives from several major U.S. companies to talk 
about franchise and business opportunities here. So, as I said, we believe that 
there are real opportunities for business and trade that will benefit both 
sides. And we are encouraging the government to continue to work to help 
improve and develop Armenia’s business climate. The business climate, the 
investment climate can be fragile. And all it takes is one government mistake, 
or a bad law, or a bad decision and investors can be scared away. That’s why I 
hope the government will continue to pay attention to the environment it is 
creating for business and investment here.”




Lawyer Calls Investigators’ Decision On Kocharian Illegal


Armenia - Ex-president Robert Kocharian's lawyer Aram Orbelian, 5Sept., 2018

Aram Orbelian, a lawyer representing the interests of former Armenian president 
Robert Kocharian, has described yesterday’s decision by the Special 
Investigative Service (SIS) not to allow his client to leave Armenia pending 
investigation as illegal.

Still, he said, the ex-president will sign a written pledge confining him to 
the country limits, if necessary.

Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008, stands accused of illegally using 
the armed forces against opposition supporters who protested against alleged 
fraud in a disputed presidential election a decade ago. Eight protesters and 
two police personnel were killed when security forces broke up those 
demonstrations on March 1-2, 2008.

Kocharian spent more than two weeks in custody last summer. The Court of 
Appeals on August 13 overturned a district court’s July 27 decision to allow 
Kocharian’s arrest. It said that the Armenian constitution gives the 
ex-president immunity from prosecution. The Prosecutor’s Office has appealed 
the court’s decision at Armenia’s highest judicial instance – the Court of 
Cassation, which is still to consider the case.

SIS spokesperson Marina Ohanjanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service 
(Azatutyun.am) on Tuesday that investigators have decided to apply a measure of 
restraint called “a written undertaking not to leave [the country]” in relation 
to Kocharian. The decision comes one day after Kocharian, through his lawyer, 
revealed his intention to travel to Germany for an annual medical examination.

“Taking into account the decision of the Court of Appeal that immunity is 
applied to the charges [brought against Kocharian] and that, accordingly, no 
criminal prosecution can be pursued on those charges, we assume that any action 
aimed at criminal prosecution – and applying a measure of restraint is also an 
act of prosecution – is not legal,” said Orbelian.

The lawyer said that they have not yet received the text of the decision. “We 
will see it and then give a more detailed assessment,” he said, adding that 
they will appeal the decision “if it proves to be what we think it is.”

Kocharian insists that there are no grounds for his prosecution and claims 
political motives for that. The 64-year-old former leader announced his return 
to active politics on August 16.




Armenian Judokas To Miss International Competition In Azerbaijan


Judo competitions

An Armenian judo team will not travel to Baku which hosts world championships 
later this month, Armenia’s Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs said on 
Wednesday.

According to Armenian sport officials, Azerbaijan has refused to formally 
provide the necessary guarantees for the security of the Armenian delegation.

The World Judo Championships are due to be held in the capital of Azerbaijan on 
September 20-27.

Despite the lingering conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh athletes from Armenia and 
Azerbaijan traveled to their neighboring country on several occasions to take 
part in major international competitions before 2016 April clashes in the 
disputed region in which dozens of soldiers were killed on both sides.

Thus, more than two dozen Armenians took part in the first European Games held 
in Baku in 2015.

Azerbaijani athletes also attended a number of major international competitions 
in Armenia, including judo, boxing and archery events.

In all those cases security guarantees to athletes were provided by the 
authorities of the host nation.




Baku Summons U.S. Diplomat Over Bilzerian Visit To Karabakh

        • Heghine Buniatian

Dan Bilzerian at a shooting range in Nagorno-Karabakh, August 2018

Official Baku has sent a note of protest to the United States over the visit of 
American citizen Dan Bilzerian to Nagorno-Karabakh.

According to official sources, U.S. Charge d'Affaires William Gill was summoned 
to the Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan over this matter earlier this week and 
was given an official note of protest addressed to the U.S. Department of State.

Bilzerian, a 37-year-old American social media celebrity of Armenian descent 
nicknamed the “King of Instagram”, made a trip to Armenia in late August to be 
issued a passport of an Armenian citizen.

The professional poker player, who is primarily known for his playboy lifestyle 
and has tens of millions of followers on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter 
attracted by his regular photos of private jets, scantily clad women, piles of 
cash and guns, then traveled to Nagorno-Karabakh where he fired various weapons 
at a local shooting range.

Azerbaijan, which considers ethnic Armenian-controlled Nagorno-Karabakh to be 
its territory, saw it as a violation of its laws. “It was brought to the notice 
of the senior American diplomat that Bilzerian had violated the law of 
Azerbaijan on the state border and the country’s Migration Code as, without 
presenting relevant documents, bypassing our checkpoints, he entered the 
occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” said Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry 
spokesman Hikmet Hajiyev.

The note of protest directed to the American side also claims that Bilzerian 
“illegally acquired firearms and for provocative purposes demonstratively 
opened fire on the positions of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces.” “We also 
informed the American diplomat that this person was making insulting and 
immoral statements on camera affecting the dignity and moral values of the 
Azerbaijani people and contradicting the spirit of friendly relations between 
Azerbaijan and the United States,” the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry spokesman 
said.

Immediately after Bilzerian’s visit to Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan launched a 
criminal case against the flamboyant millionaire. A court in Baku issued an 
arrest warrant for Bilzerian and put him on the international wanted list.

In response to this development, Bilzerian, who is no stranger to controversy, 
told the American magazine People that he thinks the arrest warrant was 
politically motivated. “They only issued the warrant for my arrest, and nobody 
else on the trip,” he said. “I think it’s because I am a public figure and they 
want to try to make an example out of me.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan does not conceal the 
demonstrative nature of the criminal case against Bilzerian to prevent visits 
of U.S. citizens and citizens of other countries to Nagorno-Karabakh. “We have 
informed the American side about the charges brought against Bilzerian and 
about the steps taken to bring him to justice. The Azerbaijani side expects the 
U.S. Government to take seriously the concerns of Baku and take the necessary 
measures to ensure that U.S. citizens refrain from visiting the occupied 
territories of Azerbaijan,” Hajiyev said.

At least on one occasion in the past authorities in Baku already acted on their 
warnings by arresting a foreign national over his visit to Nagorno-Karabakh. In 
December 2016 at the request of Azerbaijan the authorities of Belarus arrested 
blogger Alexander Lapshin, who has the citizenships of Israel, Russia and 
Ukraine. The blogger was then handed over to Baku where he was tried and 
sentenced to three years in prison for violating Azerbaijani laws. Lapshin was 
released from Azerbaijani prison in September 2017 after numerous calls from 
human rights organizations and some backstage negotiations with official Baku.

Baku has a long list of international figures who are declared personae non 
gratae in Azerbaijan and are banned from entering the country.




Press Review



“Zhoghovurd” writes on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s upcoming visit to 
Moscow. “It is remarkable that the visit of the head of the Armenian government 
to Moscow comes one week after the September 1 meeting between Russian 
President Vladimir Putin and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Then Putin and 
Aliyev also exchanged views on the Karabakh conflict. It is expected that the 
Karabakh issue will also be addressed at the Putin-Pashinian meeting. It 
appears that this subject is slowly getting back on the agenda,” the paper 
observes.

On the same subject “Haykakan Zhamanak” writes: “It’s a fact that the 
Armenian-Russian dialogue, far from having stopped, is only developing in a new 
spirit. Nevertheless, it is necessary to note that the September 8 meeting 
between Pashinian and Putin will be more difficult as compared to the previous 
two meetings. The difficulty is first of all conditioned by the recent 
Putin-Aliyev meeting during which the two parties also discussed the Karabakh 
issue. This issue is certain to come up also at the September 8 meeting. The 
sides may try to come to a common denominator on the agenda and format of 
restarting negotiations. It is not ruled out that Putin, as head of one of the 
countries chairing the OSCE Minsk Group, will act as a mediator and present to 
Pashinian Aliyev’s vision of conflict settlement – if there is any.”

“Zhamanak” comments on the decision by the Special Investigation Service not to 
allow ex-president Robert Kocharian, who is charged with overthrowing the 
constitutional order, to leave Armenia pending investigation: “This decision 
comes shortly after Kocharian revealed his intention to leave the country… 
Interestingly, Kocharian decided to leave Armenia for several days ahead of the 
hearing of his case at the Court of Cassation. Of course, the date of the 
hearing is not known yet, but there is still an intrigue here as it is not 
clear whether there will be a new decision on arresting Kocharian or not. 
Another interesting point is that Kocharian’s decision to leave coincided with 
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s congratulations on his birthday on August 
31, which were perceived by many as support.”

(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.
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