Monday, 

Six Killed In Armenian Road Crash

        • Naira Nalbandian

Armenia - The scene of a deadly road accident in the Ararat province, July 6, 
2019.

Law-enforcement authorities in Armenia were investigating on Monday a weekend 
road accident which left six people dead and eleven others seriously injured.

A commuter minibus reportedly burst into flames after colliding with two cars 
on a highway bridge 54 kilometers south of Yerevan on Saturday. A photograph 
released by the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations showed all three 
vehicles engulfed by fire after what was one of the country’s deadliest road 
crashes in years.

The Investigative Committee said the victims were the driver and five female 
passengers of the minibus. A statement released by the law-enforcement agency 
suggested that they burned alive inside the vehicle that carried mostly 
residents of nearby villages. All but one of the charred bodies were identified 
by Monday morning, according to it.

The statement said seven other passengers suffered serious burns and required 
hospitalization. Three of them remain in a critical condition, it added.

The Investigative Committee reported later in the day that it has arrested one 
of the two car drivers on suspicion of causing the crash. The 63-year-old 
suspect, Soghomon Hakobian, was also seriously injured. A spokeswoman for the 
committee told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Hakobian is intensive care at a 
hospital in Yerevan.

The earlier Investigative Committee statement said blood tests showed that 
neither Hakobian nor the other car driver was drunk. It said that investigators 
have questioned some of the injured individuals and eyewitnesses and will 
conduct forensic tests as part of their probe.

“The investigation is continuing,” read the statement. “All investigative 
actions are being taken to ascertain the circumstances of the accident and 
verify circumstances mentioned in testimonies.”

Most cars and other vehicles in Armenia are powered by pressurized natural gas 
which is considerably cheaper than petrol.




Armenia’s Post-Soviet Ills Cured, Says Pashinian

        • Karlen Aslanian

Singapore -- Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong welcomes his visiting 
Armenian counterpart Nikol Pashinian, Singapore, July 8, 2019.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian said on Monday that his government has 
successfully tackled corruption and Armenia’s other chronic problems 
“characteristic of many post-Soviet countries” since taking office just over a 
year ago.

“In the course of the past year the government of Armenia has taken steps that 
have radically transformed the country’s business environment,” Pashinian said 
during an official visit to Singapore. “It has strengthened the rule of law, 
created a level playing field for all economic actors and foreign investors in 
particular. Corruption has declined sharply.”

“We no longer suffer from symptoms characteristic of many post-Soviet 
countries,” he declared at a dinner hosted by Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee 
Hsien Loong. “The new Armenia opens up new opportunities for investing and 
engaging in economic activities.”

Pashinian and other government officials have repeatedly said that these 
improvements are laying the groundwork or an “economic revolution” that will 
significantly boost living standards in Armenia. Their political opponents and 
other critics dismiss these statements, saying that the new government’s 
policies have not translated into faster economic growth or greater foreign 
investment.

During visits abroad and Singapore in particular, Pashinian has touted his 
administration’s stated achievements in an effort to attract such investment. 
Economic issues dominated his talks with Lee held earlier in the day. The talks 
were followed by the signing of an agreement on the avoidance of double 
taxation of each other’s businesses.

“We want to spur increased trade and mutual investments between our countries,” 
the Armenian leader said at the ensuing dinner.

Armenia’s trade with Singapore stood at a meager $2.2 million last year. 
Pashinian said a free-trade deal currently negotiated by the wealthy 
island-state and the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) could also boost 
it.

Lee voiced support for that deal and said he hopes it will be signed “as soon 
as possible.” He also paid tribute to Singapore’s historic Armenian community 
that emerged nearly two centuries ago.

“We are proud of Armenians who continue to contribute to the development of our 
country,” added Lee.

For his part, Pashinian spoke of his admiration for Singapore’s “economic 
miracle.” “Your unique experience is of great interest to us and we would be 
grateful for your advice,” he said in his speech, adding that his government 
seeks to emulate Singapore’s “meritocracy, pragmatism and integrity.”



Lawyers Again Seek Bail For Kocharian

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian speaks during his trial in 
Yerevan, May 16, 2019.

Two weeks after he was arrested again, the lawyers for former President Robert 
Kocharian on Monday asked a district court judge in Yerevan to release him on 
bail.

The judge presiding over Kocharian’s trial, Davit Grigorian, already ordered 
him freed from custody pending a verdict in the case on May 18. Grigorian also 
decided to suspend the trial, saying that a coup charge brought against the 
ex-president may be unconstitutional. He requested a clarification from 
Armenia’s Constitutional Court.

The Court of Appeals overturned on June 25 Grigorian’s decisions strongly 
condemned by political allies and supporters of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. 
Kocharian reported to a prison in downtown Yerevan a few hours later.

The high-profile trial has still not resumed, however, because Armen Danielian, 
a Court of Appeals judge, has still not sent materials of the case back to the 
lower court. The latter will not be able to consider the bail request as long 
as the trial remains on hold.

Kocharian’s lawyers on Monday again accused Danielian of deliberately dragging 
out the judicial process to make sure that Kocharian remains under arrest as 
long as possible. One of them, Hayk Alumian, charged that Danielian is acting 
on government orders. He insisted that under Armenian law the documents should 
have been sent back to the district immediately after Danielian’s ruling was 
made public.

Danielian’s office refused to give reasons for the apparent delay or say when 
he will enable the court of first instance to resume the trial.

Seda Safarian, a lawyer representing relatives of opposition protesters killed 
in Yerevan in March 2008, defended Danielian. She suggested that the Court of 
Appeals judge anticipates that Kocharian will challenge his decision in the 
Court of Cassation. In that case, he would send the materials directly to the 
higher court.

Safarian also predicted that the trial of Kocharian as well as his former chief 
of staff, Armen Gevorgian, and retired Generals Yuri Khachaturov and Seyran 
Ohanian will not resume before this fall.

The four men stand accused of illegally using Armenian army units against 
opposition supporters that demanded the rerun of a disputed presidential 
election held in February 2008. Kocharian ordered troops into Yerevan as 
opposition protesters clashed with riot police late on March 1, 2008. Eight 
protesters and two police servicemen died in those clashes.

Earlier this year, Kocharian was also charged with bribe-taking. He denies all 
accusations leveled against him as politically motivated.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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