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    Categories: 2020

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 02/11/2020

                                        Tuesday, 

Opposition Party Clarifies Stance On ‘Illegal’ Referendum

        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia -- Opposition leader Edmon Marukian (C) speaks at a news conference in 
Yerevan, .

The opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK) on Tuesday again denounced 
constitutional changes drafted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political 
team as illegal but said it will not actively urge voters to reject them in an 
upcoming referendum.

The draft amendments call for the dismissal of seven of the nine members of 
Armenia’s Constitutional Court. The judges -- and the court’s chairman, Hrayr 
Tovmasian, in particular -- have been under strong government pressure to resign 
in recent months, with Pashinian accusing them of being linked to the “corrupt 
former regime.”

Deputies representing the LHK voted against the proposed amendments when 
Pashinian’s My Step bloc pushed them through the Armenian parliament last week. 
The opposition party’s leader, Edmon Marukian, said they run counter to the 
Armenian constitution and were passed with serious procedural violations. 
Pro-government lawmakers denied that.

Marukian insisted on Tuesday that the referendum scheduled for April 5 is 
“completely illegal.” He said at the same time that the LHK leadership has 
decided not to officially campaign for a “No” vote.

“There must not be a ‘No’ camp in the unconstitutional referendum and 
unconstitutional process; there must only be a ‘Yes’ camp,” Marukian explained 
at a news conference.

“Why? Because the authorities badly need some people to campaign for a ‘No’ vote 
so that they can tell those people that they are defending Serzh Sarkisian and 
deliver the kind of speeches which everyone is tired of,” he said.

“Let them only campaign for a ‘Yes’ vote, and the people will decide whether or 
not to vote ‘Yes.’ But setting up a ‘No’ vote front would mean giving the 
authorities a chance to keep generating hatred,” he added.

A senior My Step figure, Alen Simonian dismissed this stance as “absurd.” “If 
they call [the process] unconstitutional but are not going to do anything about 
that, it means … they just don’t know what they are doing,” he said.

Pashinian urged supporters to vote for the amendments immediately after 
President Armen Sarkissian set the referendum date on Sunday. The prime minister 
said they would thereby “say yes to the revolution” and “slam the door in 
corrupt officials’ face.”

Pashinian has repeatedly accused Tovmasian and the six other Constitutional 
Court judges appointed under the former governments of obstructing his efforts 
to make the Armenian judiciary “truly independent.”

Critics claim that he is on the contrary keen to gain control over the country’s 
highest court. They also point to the authorities’ failure to ask the Council of 
Europe’s Venice Commission to examine the draft amendments before putting them 
on a referendum.

The LHK and the other parliamentary opposition party, Prosperous Armenia (BHK), 
may still prevent the holding of the referendum if their parliament deputies 
appeal to the Constitutional Court and convince it to declare the amendments 
unconstitutional.

Under the Armenian constitution, such appeals must be signed by at least 27 
members of the 132-seat parliament. The BHK and the LHK control 26 and 17 
parliament seats respectively.

Marukian reaffirmed his party’s readiness to challenge the referendum in the 
court. BHK leader Gagik Tsarukian indicated on Tuesday, however, that BHK 
lawmakers will not back such a move. Some of those lawmakers have also 
questioned the legality of the government drive to replace the high court judges.



Armenian Opera Director Reinstated

        • Gayane Danielian

Armenia - Constantine Orbelian, the director of the national opera theater 
controversially sacked by the government, Yerevan, March 29, 2019.

Constantine Orbelian, an acclaimed Armenian-American conductor and pianist, has 
been reinstated as director of Armenia’s national opera theater after winning a 
court battle against the government.

Orbelian was appointed as artistic director of the Alexander Spendiarian 
National Opera and Ballet Theater in Yerevan in 2016 and became its director 
general as well a year later. He is widely credited with breathing a new life 
into one of the country’s most important cultural institutions chronically 
underfunded by successive post-Soviet governments.

In March 2019, then acting Culture Minister Nazeni Gharibian dismissed Orbelian 
as chief executive, saying that he is not legally allowed to combine the two 
leadership positions. She also argued that the 63-year-old U.S. citizen is not 
fluent in Armenian.

Orbelian rejected the decision as illegal and challenged it in court. Most 
actors and musicians of the state-run theater also condemned his dismissal, 
demanding that Gharibian be sacked instead.

Dozens of them rallied outside the main government building in Yerevan. Meeting 
with their representatives, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian defended the legality 
of Orbelian’s dismissal while pledging to address their concerns.


Armenia -- Artists of the nationla opera theater stage a protest action in 
support of Constantine Orbelian, 30Mar2019.

In October, a district court in the Armenian capital declared the controversial 
sacking null and void. Armenia’s Court of Appeals upheld that ruling on Monday.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Orbelian said the decision means that he can 
again perform the duties of director general. He cautioned, though, that his 
three-year contract signed with the former Armenian government expires in August 
and that he does not know yet whether the current authorities will extend it.

Orbelian is scheduled to meet with Ara Khzmalian, a deputy minister of 
education, culture and sports, on Wednesday. He said he will discuss with 
Khzmalian the possibility of renewed government funding for the theater.

The San Francisco-born musician complained that for the last two years the 
government has not financed performances staged by him in and outside Armenia. 
Also, he said, the roof and the ventilation system of the imposing theater 
building, one of Yerevan’s main landmarks, need urgent repairs.



Senior Policeman Prosecuted For Torture


Armenia -- The entrance to the Office of the Prosecutor-General, Yerevan.

Armenian law-enforcement authorities have brought criminal charges against a 
senior police officer who was seemingly caught on video brutally beating a man 
together with three other individuals.

The blurry video was first posted by the NewsMedia.am on its website and widely 
circulated by Armenian media in November. It showed four men punching, kicking 
and swearing at the victim. One of them then forcibly put a gas mask on his head 
while another started hitting his shoe soles with a truncheon.

The Armenian police were quick to launch an internal inquiry into the scandalous 
video that caused outrage among viewers and prompted serious concern from the 
country’s human rights ombudsman.

A police statement issued afterwards said one of the violent individuals shown 
in the footage turned out to be the head of the police department of Chambarak, 
a small town in Armenia’s northeastern Gegharkunik province. The officer, Narek 
Simonian, was suspended as a result, the statement said, adding that the police 
are now trying to identify the other men involved in the violent interrogation.

A separate, criminal investigation was launched by another law-enforcement body, 
the Special Investigative Service (SIS).

Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General reported on Monday that the video 
depicts the interrogation of a man who was taken to a police station in Yerevan 
in November 2008 on suspicion of an attempted burglary. In a statement, it said 
that Simonian and several other policemen subjected the man to “inhuman, 
degrading and brutal treatment” after he refused to confess to the crime.

According to the statement, Simonian has been charged with serious abuse of 
power as part of the ongoing “comprehensive, full and objective investigation.” 
Investigators are doing their best to identify all individuals responsible for 
the torture, added the prosecutors.

Ill-treatment of criminal suspects has long been commonplace in Armenia, with 
law-enforcement officers threatening and beating suspects to extract 
confessions. They have rarely been prosecuted for such illegal practices until 
now.



Jordan’s King In ‘Historic’ Visit To Armenia


Armenia -- Armenian President Armen Sarkissian (R) and Jordan's King Abdullah 
arrive at the presidential palace in Yerevan, .

Jordan’s King Abdullah spoke of similarities between his country and Armenia, 
voiced support for closer bilateral ties and praised the centuries-old Armenian 
presence in the Middle East during an official visit to Yerevan on Tuesday.

He also called for Armenian support for his position on the status of Jerusalem 
after holding separate talks with President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian.

Both Armenian leaders described Abdullah’s first-ever visit to their country as 
“historic” during the talks that seemed to have focused on ways of boosting 
Armenian-Jordanian economic ties. Sarkissian was satisfied with the “wonderful 
discussions with His Majesty.”

“I’m very glad that … relations between our countries are reinvigorated and we 
have already concrete results,” Pashinian told the Jordanian monarch at the 
start of their meeting.

“Our two countries and peoples have carved a niche for themselves in today’s 
modern world, all the while remaining true to their identities, their cultures 
and faiths,” Abdullah said in a speech delivered at the presidential palace in 
Yerevan later in the day. “And Jordan, much like Armenia, has made its human 
capital the main driver of its journey towards development. Our countries have 
much to gain from cooperating to capitalize on this promising potential.”

“Although this is our first official visit to your beautiful country, we feel we 
are among family, and in fact we are family,” he declared.


Armenia -- Jordan's King Abdullah delivers a speech at the presidential palace 
in Yerevan, .

Abdullah went on to lavish praise on Jordan’s Armenian community. “Thousands of 
Jordanians trace their roots back to Armenia,” he said. “They do honor to both 
of our countries and play vital roles in the arts, education, public service, 
business and much, much more. And they form the solid bedrock on which our 
friendship continues to grow and flourish.”

The community mainly consists of descendants of survivors of the 1915 Armenian 
genocide in Ottoman Turkey who had taken refuge in what is now Jordan. 
Sarkissian stressed that it was Abdullah’s great-great-grandfather, Emir Hussein 
bin Ali of Mecca, who urged Arabs to shelter them.

“I would like to bow to the great memory of your ancestor and your family and to 
tell you the thanks from my nation,” the president told Abdullah.

“Our joint history extends far beyond that,” the king said for his part. 
“Armenians in the Middle East are part of the oldest Christian community in the 
world. They are an integral part of our region’s past … and we look to work with 
you to make sure they continue to play such a role in shaping its present and 
creating its bright future.”

In that context, Abdullah pointed to the existence of an ancient Armenian 
quarter in Jerusalem and his religious custodianship of the city’s Muslim, 
Armenian and other Christian worship sites.

“Preserving the city’s identity and its legal status, as well as the historic 
status quo in relation to holy sites, Islamic and Christian alike, is going to 
be key,” he said. “So we look to Christian leaders and friends like you and 
around the world to work with us in safeguarding Jerusalem as a unifying city of 
peace.”

Jordan is reportedly concerned about an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan put 
forward by the United States. Amman has been particularly sensitive to any 
changes of status in Jerusalem after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to 
recognize it as Israel’s capital.


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