Tuesday,
Police General Risks Criminal Charges
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - General Levon Yeranosian, the commander of Armenian interior troops,
21 June 2014.
General Levon Yeranosian, the controversial former commander of Armenian
interior troops, could be prosecuted over the use of force against
anti-government protests in Yerevan last spring, it emerged on Tuesday.
A spokeswoman for the Special Investigative Service (SIS), Marina Ohanjanian,
told RFE/RL’s Armenian service (Azatutyun.am) that the law-enforcement agency
has summoned Yeranosian for questioning. She gave no details.
Yeranosian’s lawyer, Tigran Safarian, said his client is suspected of ordering
riot police to use excessive force against the protesters led by Nikol
Pashinian on April 16 and April 22. He has signed a formal pledge not to leave
Armenia pending investigation, said Safarian.
In the April 16 incident, Pashinian and hundreds of his supporters tried to get
through a police cordon and approach the parliament building in Yerevan in a
bid to prevent the country’s longtime leader, Serzh Sarkisian, from holding on
to power. Security forces used stun grenades and batons to stop the crowd.
Pashinian and several other individuals were injured in the clash.
Armenia - Opposition supporters clash with riot police near the parliament
building in Yerevan, 16 April 2018.
Pashinian and his top associates were detained on April 22 as they led an
anti-government demonstration elsewhere in Yerevan. The nationwide protests
only intensified in the following hours, leading Sarkisian to resign on April
23. His resignation was announced shortly before the release of the detained
oppositionists.
Pashinian fired Yeranosian just days after being elected prime minister on May
8. Armenian human rights groups and media had for years accused the general of
serious human rights violations.
Democracy Key To Regional Peace, Says Pashinian
• Sargis Harutyunyan
U.S. - Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau talks to his Armenian counterpart
Nikol Pashinian at the Nelson Mandela Peace Summit in New York, 24 September
2018.
Democratization is essential for peace and stability in the South Caucasus,
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said during the Nelson Mandela Peace
Summit held at the UN headquarters in New York on Monday.
“I come from a region where unfortunately bloody conflicts, corrupt system of
governance, animosity between people overshadow wisdom and the need for
peaceful coexistence,” Pashinian told the summit attended by dozens of world
leaders.
“Democracies are not supposed to wage wars against each other,” he said. “I
hope that one day our region’s democratic development will rule out the risks
of hostilities, wars and hatred. Armenia has firmly embarked on this path and
strongly stands for regional peace, stability and reconciliation.”
Pashinian swept to power in May after weeks of massive anti-government protests
organized by him. He has repeatedly described the protest movement as a “velvet
revolution” that will turn Armenia into a democratic state.
Addressing the UN summit dedicated to Nelson Mandela, the 43-year-old former
journalist described the late South African president as a role model who
inspired his own political activities.
“Having been a political prisoner myself, I closely followed the political path
and life story of this most famous political prisoner who would change his own
country and indeed the aspirations of millions worldwide,” said Pashinian.
“Mandela’s walk, the long walk to freedom was with me during my imprisonment,
and to a great extent influenced my conscience and motivated me to embark on my
own ‘long walk to freedom’ through prison and persecution, through struggle
against injustice across the towns and villages of my country,” he declared.
“In the true spirit of Mandela’s ideas, our movement became known to the world
as Armenian non-violent velvet revolution of love and solidarity and now,
months after my people’s success, I stand here at the high rostrum of this
summit as the head of modern Armenian government to celebrate the legacy of
this great person whose courage and determination served as an example for
others around the globe,” added the Armenian premier.
Pashinian met with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres earlier on Monday. In
a live Facebook interview aired over the weekend, Guterres described the
Pashinian-led movement as a “fantastic example” of democratic change effected
by young people.
Press Review
“Zhoghovurd” says that the margin of victory of Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s My Step alliance in the September 23 municipal elections in Yerevan
was unexpectedly huge. “Hardly anyone believed that it will get over 81 percent
of the vote,” writes the paper. “By the same token, nobody believed early this
year that Nikol Pashinian will succeed in carrying out a velvet revolution in
Armenia by forcing Serzh Sarkisian to step down and ousting his HHK from power.
My Step won as a result of absolutely free and fair elections. There were no
incidents, no fraud, no vote bribes, no use of administrative resources in the
September 23 elections and all election contenders accepted their official
results.”
“The people thus voiced support for Pashinian’s government,” continues
“Zhoghovurd.” “At the same time they gave him the carte blanche to dissolve the
parliament and hold fresh elections of the National Assembly.” The paper says
that the incoming Yerevan mayor, Hayk Marutian, should use this massive popular
support with “great care.” “He must work very hard in order not to disappoint
people.”
“Zhamanak” reports that former President Robert Kocharian has filed a libel
suit against Pashinian. The paper says that it is not yet clear which statement
made by Pashinian is considered slanderous by Pashinian. It notes that news of
the libel suit was announced immediately after the municipal elections in
Yerevan and Pashinian’s decision to start discussions with political forces on
snap general elections.The paper says that Kocharian may be trying to cheer up
the HHK and possibly other parliamentary parties opposed to the elections.
(Lilit Harutiunian)
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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