Friday, Armenian Lawmakers To Have Unfettered Access To Detainees • Naira Nalbandian Armenia -- Deputies from the opposition Bright Armenia Party attend a parliament session in Yerevan, January 20, 2020. The Armenian parliament accepted on Friday an opposition proposal to give its members unfettered access to people held in police custody. An Armenian law already allows parliament deputies to visit criminal suspects and convicts for the purpose of protecting their rights. But such visits can be banned or restricted by investigators. An amendment to that law drafted by the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK) would lift this restriction. The National Assembly passed it in the first reading by 77 votes to 21, with 22 abstentions, despite objections voiced by some senior pro-government lawmakers. One of them, Nikolay Baghdasarian, said the existing legal mechanism contains sufficient safeguards against mistreatment of detainees. “This is why the parliament committee on legal affairs gave a negative assessment [of the proposed amendment,]” he said before the vote. LHK leader Edmon Marukian sought to dispel concerns that criminal suspects’ unrestricted contacts with parliamentarians could make it harder for law-enforcement bodies to solve crimes. He also argued that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian advocated a similar bill when he was in opposition to Armenia’s former leadership. “If this bill is not passed now it will mean that there is no difference between its interpretations by the current and former authorities,” said Marukian. Another opposition deputy, Naira Zohrabian of the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), voiced support for the LHK proposal. She said that she has been unfairly barred from entering detention centers “on numerous occasions.” The LHK won sufficient support from deputies from the ruling My Step bloc to push the bill through the parliament. My Step’s Sisak Gabrielian said some changes could be made in the bill before its passage in the second and final reading. In particular, he suggested that the parliament consider banning deputies from visiting their relatives suspected or accused of various crimes. Armenian Schools To Reopen Amid Coronavirus Fears Armenia -- A woman wears a medical mask during a church service in Yerevan, March 1, 2020. Armenia’s universities and schools will resume classes on Monday one week after being closed by the government following the first case of coronavirus confirmed in the country. The government has reported no new cases of the virus since then. Health Minister Arsen Torosian said on Friday that all 31 persons placed under quarantine on March 1 continue to “feel well” and show no respiratory disease symptoms. They were isolated at a hotel in the resort town of Tsaghkadzor because of being in physical contact with a 29-year-old Armenian man who tested positive for the virus after returning from Iran last week. Earlier this week, Armenian authorities tightened controls at the partly closed Armenian-Iranian border. Speaking at a cabinet meeting in Yerevan on Thursday, Education Minister Arayik Harutiunian said there is no reason to extend the one-week closure of the universities, schools and kindergartens. A senior official from his ministry, Ashot Arshakian, told the Armenpress news agency afterwards that they will reopen on Monday. The first coronavirus case also led to the last-minute cancellation by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian of a March 1 demonstration which was due to mark the 12th anniversary of the 2008 post-election violence in Yerevan. Even so, the Armenian authorities did not ban or restrict other public events in the country. In another sign of their confidence that Armenia is not at risk of a major coronavirus outbreak, Pashinian announced on Friday that he we will start campaigning next week for a “Yes” vote in the April 5 referendum on constitutional changes drafted by his administration. He said he will visit all Armenian cities and towns and hold rallies there. Serzh Sarkisian Again Visits Europe Despite Trial • Astghik Bedevian Belgium -- Former European Council President Donald Tusk (R) and former Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian meet in Brussels, March 5, 2020. Just days after starting his corruption trial, a court in Yerevan has allowed former President Serzh Sarkisian to visit Brussels and meet with prominent European politicians, including Donald Tusk, the European Union’s former top official. Sarkisian signed a pledge not to leave Armenia when he was charged with embezzlement in December. He rejects the accusations as politically motivated. Sarkisian and four other men went on trial on February 25. The trial was adjourned until March 26 shortly after its start. A lawyer for Sarkisian, Amram Makinian, said on Friday that after the first hearing in the case he and the ex-president’s office requested in writing court permission for Sarkisian’s “working visit” to Brussels “planned in advance.” The presiding judge, Vahe Misakian, granted the request, Makinian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. According to Sarkisian’s spokeswoman, Meri Harutiunian, the ex-president was allowed to be absent from the country from March 4-7. The Office of the Prosecutor-General declined to comment on the judge’s decision. It said only that the issue should have been discussed during the court hearing. Sarkisian’s visit began on Thursday with a meeting with Tusk, the former European Council president who was recently appointed as head of the European People’s Party (EPP). Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) is a member of the grouping of Europe’s leading center-right parties. According to Armen Ashotian, the HHK’s deputy chairman, Sarkisian briefed Tusk on “recent political developments in Armenia” and spoke about “the dangers of populism for democracy.” The two men also discussed “regional issues and challenges,” Ashotian, who is accompanying the ex-president on the trip, wrote on Facebook. Later on Thursday, Sarkisian had a dinner meeting with two members of the European Parliament. One of them, Traian Basescu, served as president of Romania from 2004-2014. While in the Belgian capital, Sarkisian also visited the Wilfried Martens Center for European Studies, an EPP think-tank, and met with its president, Slovakia’s former Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda. Armenia -- Former President Serzh Sarkisian arrives for the start of his trial, Yerevan, February 25, 2020. Sarkisian, 65, ruled Armenia from 2008-2018. He resigned amid mass protests sparked by his attempt to extend his decade-long rule. The protests, known as “the Velvet Revolution,” were also fuelled by popular disaffection with widespread government corruption. Sarkisian criticized the current Armenian government when he spoke at an EPP congress in Croatia in November. He accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s administration jeopardizing democracy and stifling dissent in the country. The ex-president was indicted two weeks later. He stands accused of giving privileged treatment in 2013 to a longtime friend and businessman which cost the state 489 million drams (just over $1 million) in losses. Sarkisian and his party accuse the authorities of persecuting him for political reasons. Law-enforcement authorities and Pashinian’s political allies strongly deny this. Armenian Military Reports Azeri Incursion Attempt • Sargis Harutyunyan Armenia -- Soldiers pictured during a military exercise in Tavush, March 26, 2019. The Armenian military claimed to have thwarted early on Friday an Azerbaijani commando raid on one of its positions along Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan. According to the Defense Ministry in Yerevan, an Azerbaijani “sabotage” unit attacked the outpost but was repelled by Armenian soldiers deployed there, “suffering losses” as a result. The ministry published photographs of a German-manufactured mine detector and combat ammunition which it said were left by the enemy at the scene. “The Armenian side suffered no casualties. One soldier was lightly wounded as a result of the actions,” the ministry added in a statement on the pre-dawn incident which it said occurred in Armenia’s northern Tavush province bordering the Gazakh district in western Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan’s State Border Guard Service, whose troops protect that section of the border, denied the attempted incursion. It said that Armenian troops opened “intensive” fire on some of its positions from heavy machine-guns and sniper rifles early in the morning. Armenia -- A photograph of a mine detector and ammunition which the Armenian military says was left behind by an Azerbaijani commando unit, March 6, 2020. One Azerbaijani soldier was reportedly killed in the area on Thursday evening. The Armenian Defense Ministry said shortly afterwards that Azerbaijani forces deployed there have been systematically violating the ceasefire in recent days and pledged to respond to the “provocations.” “The Azerbaijani provocations are continuing,” the ministry spokesman, Artsrun Hovannisian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Friday. “The Armenian side is responding [to such incidents] with one or two precise shots, which result in appropriate consequences,” he said. Tensions at the Tavush-Gazakh section of the heavily militarized frontier have been on the rise in recent weeks despite an overall decrease in truce violations in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict observed since October 2018. Three Azerbaijani border guards have been killed there since the beginning of this year, according to authorities in Baku. The Armenian military has so far reported no combat casualties within its ranks in 2020. “During the same period our soldiers have been wounded as a result of enemy actions,” Hovannisian said in this regard. “It is only natural that we retaliated adequately for our wounded soldiers, which may have had [fatal] consequences.” Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc. 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.