Tuesday,
Armenians Urged To Refrain From Panic Buying
• Artak Khulian
Armenia - A supermarket in Yerevan (file photo)
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and other senior government officials on Tuesday
called on citizens not to buy more food and essentials than they need, assuring
the public that Armenia has no shortage of supplies.
In a live broadcast on Facebook on the first full day of a 30-day state of
emergency declared last night to slow and contain the further spread of the
novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Pashinian ascribed rising food prices to panic
buying.
Reports of major instances of panic buying in supermarkets across Armenia first
appeared in media on Monday within hours after the Pashinian government
announced a set of limitations, including a ban on public gatherings and the
possibility of restricting people’s travel due to epidemiological conditions.
Pashinian today cited official statistics showing that in recent days trade at
large supermarkets increased by an average of 30-40 percent, while small shops
reported falling sales. The prime minister urged citizens “not to forget about
small and medium-sized businesses.”
“I understand that shopping in supermarkets is much more convenient, but even
today there are a lot of goods in large amounts in small and medium-sized shops,
and it is surprising that they have problems with sales,” he said.
Gegham Gevorgian, chairman of the State Commission for the Protection of
Economic Competition, also confirmed that Armenia is provided with the necessary
amount of food. He said that mainly groceries have been in great demand in
recent days.
As for the level of prices, the head of the anti-trust body said: “I think that
apart from the monitoring of prices it is also important to ensure uninterrupted
supply of stocks to exclude shortages. I assure you that at this moment we have
no such problem.”
Prime Minister Pashinian also assured the public about a stable situation in the
financial market. “[The financial market is strong] especially after our results
last year when our international reserves reached a record level, and the
Central Bank purchased and stocked an unprecedentedly large amount of foreign
currency. So, we will have no problems,” the head of the Armenian government
said.
Pashinian added that his government is against the logic of “economic benefits.”
“The economy needs no benefits, which will only weaken it, it needs a program of
development underpinning each penny spent on it. We need to make sure that as a
result of this assistance, companies and businesses will become more competitive
and stronger,” the prime minister said.
Pashinian once again stressed that the situation is fully under his government’s
control. “I am convinced that we will come out of this situation as winners,
that we will become much more proud and stronger, much more viable, competitive
and competent,” he said.
Later on Monday Prime Minister Pashinian visited several supermarkets and stores
in Yerevan to monitor the situation connected with supplies and prices. During a
live broadcast on Facebook he registered that shelves at all places were full of
the usual assortment and found no change in prices.
Pashinian also walked into three pharmacies in the city center only to find that
all of them had no alcohol-based hand sanitizers in stock. Only one of the three
pharmacies had medical masks on sale.
Armenia confirmed 72 coronavirus cases as March 17 evening. Officials say
Armenia’s first COVID-19 patient identified on March 1 has recovered.
Key Hearing In Kocharian Trial Postponed
• Anush Mkrtchian
Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian (R) talks to his lawyer Hayk
Alumian during his trial, Yerevan, October 7, 2019.
A Yerevan court trying Robert Kocharian on Tuesday failed to gather for a
hearing during which several former prime ministers of Armenia would vouch for
the release of the former president charged with overthrowing the country’s
constitutional order.
The court said Judge Anna Danibekian, who presides over the trial, was sick and
could not attend. It did not provide details.
Kocharian, who ruled Armenia from 1998 to 2008, is currently on trial on charges
stemming from his alleged role in a 2008 post-election crackdown on the
opposition, as well as for taking bribes.
Eight civilians and two security personnel were killed on March 1-2, 2008 as
security forces broke up opposition demonstrations against alleged fraud in the
February 2008 presidential election. Kocharian is accused of violating the
constitution by ordering the army to quell the protests. Under Armenia’s
constitution, the military must not be involved in settling internal conflicts.
The ex-president denies issuing any orders for the army and rejects the charges
as politically motivated. His lawyers also claim he has immunity from
prosecution as the former head of state, a premise dismissed by the court.
Vazgen Manukian, Khosrov Harutiunian and Karen Karapetian, who served as prime
ministers of Armenia at different times over the past three decades, as well as
Nagorno-Karabakh’s former prime minister Anushavan Danielian were expected to
attend today’s hearing and provide personal guarantees for Kocharian to be
released from custody.
In announcing this on Monday, the group set up in defense of Kocharian’s release
called on other supporters of the ex-president not to gather outside the court
building “due to the current situation in the country.”
Due to a rising number of novel coronavirus cases, the Armenian government
declared a state of emergency on Monday, banning all public events involving
more than two dozen people.
Lawyers of Kocharian, who was hospitalized on March 9, said yesterday that
doctors could allow the ex-president to appear in court briefly. The
ex-president who is still undergoing treatment in hospital eventually did not
show up in the court-room.
Lawyers of Kocharian and three other senior officials who are co-defendants in
the trial refused to leave the court-room for about an hour. The former
president’s defense attorney Hayk Alumian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service
(Azatutyun.am) that they had not been properly informed about the postponement
of the hearing. “We were told through one of the court officials that no one was
going to come down here and inform us about what was happening. Perhaps they
considered it to be beneath their dignity to come and explain it to us in the
court-room,” he said.
Earlier, Alumian and another lawyer improvised a court hearing, with one of them
taking the seat of the judge and the other acting like a prosecutor. “This way
we sought to make them hear that we were still in the court-room,” Alumian
explained.
The lawyer cast doubts over the official explanation for the postponement of the
hearing. “We suspect that this was done intentionally so that some of the four
guarantors [who have come especially for the occasion] leave and be outside
Armenia [at the next hearing],” Alumian claimed.
No date for the next hearing has been scheduled yet. Alumian said it was his
understanding that the current state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak
should not interfere with the normal course of the court proceedings.
Man In Armenia ‘Beaten’ Over Coronavirus Patient Joke
• Naira Bulghadarian
The Armenian police headquarters in Yerevan
Police in Armenia are investigating allegations by a young man who claims to
have been attacked for his joke on social media about a woman blamed for
spreading the new coronavirus in a western Armenian town.
Sergey Sargsyan, who owns a shop in Echmiadzin, the town that currently accounts
for more than half of Armenia’s confirmed coronavirus cases, alleged on Tuesday
that the attackers were relatives of the woman who is known to have come from
Italy and organized a family occasion attended by dozens of guests before
testing positive for the coronavirus.
The woman and scores of other people suspected of having been affected due to
their contacts with her are currently under quarantine.
In a video posted on March 15 Sargsyan joked that the woman whom he called the
“Echmiadzin Lady” “has solved the problem of traffic congestion in Yerevan.”
The young man hinted at the fact that many Armenians, including drivers, decided
to stay indoors after the number of coronavirus cases began to spike in the
country on the heels of reports about the notorious Echmiadzin engagement party.
The video went viral shortly and the man claims that four hours after posting it
he was attacked outside his store in Echmiadzin. In a Facebook post Sargsyan
wriote: “Three unknown persons wearing masks approached me in front of the Say
Cheese store and asked me whether I was the author of the video. Without any
explanations they knocked me to the ground and began to kick and hit me. Seeing
all that, my wife and members of the store personnel tried to intervene to stop
the attack, but they were assailed, too. After 60 seconds of beating the unknown
persons fled.”
Sargsyan said he managed to remember the license plate of the car of the
attackers and immediately contacted the police, reporting the crime. “The
operative information obtained by the police revealed that the persons were
relatives of the ‘Echmiadzin Lady’,” the young man added.
The Armenian police confirmed to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am) on
Tuesday that they had received a crime report concerning the case in Echmiadzin.
“Investigation is underway to establish the circumstances of the case,” the
press service of the police said, without elaborating.
Armenian authorities do not disclose the names of the persons who have been
placed under quarantine. Under the state-of-emergency rule introduced for 30
days on March 16 media are not to report names or other sensitive information
related to coronavirus patients.
In several public statements made before the state of emergency was introduced
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian acknowledged that the increase in the number of
coronavirus cases in Armenia was due to one patient in Echmiadzin who had
neglected recommendations from authorities after arriving from Italy and
participated in her son’s engagement party. Thirty-eight of the 64 coronavirus
cases confirmed in Armenia as of March 17 afternoon are linked to the woman.
In the wake of the spread of the infection some social media users in Armenia
have openly blamed the woman for the situation.
Since late March 15, authorities have dramatically limited the number of exits
from Echmiadzin, a town with a population of some 45,000 people situated about
20 kilometers to the west of Yerevan, designating the community as a coronavirus
hotbed.
Traffic congestion has been reported in the town’s streets leading to the exit
points where medical screenings have been conducted on drivers and passengers,
with those having fever or exhibiting other coronavirus-like symptoms turned
away and asked to isolate themselves from public.
Relatives of the Echmiadzin woman or their representatives have not yet reacted
to accusations of assault and beating.
Earlier this week Armenia’s Ombudsman Arman Tatoyan called unacceptable any
statements “degrading the dignity of the coronavirus-affected woman from
Echmiadzin.”
Public Events Banned In Armenia Amid Spike In Coronavirus Cases
An Armenian medical worker measures the temperature of a woman at an entrance to
the city of Vagharshapat as part of the country’s measures taken to prevent the
spread of the coronavirus
Armenia has banned all public events involving more than two dozen people after
the number of coronavirus cases nearly doubled in a day, pushing authorities to
declare a state of emergency on Monday.
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian, who was appointed chief coordinator of the
30-day state of emergency, said the decision concerns all concerts, exhibitions,
displays, theatrical performances and other sports, cultural, educational and
entertainment events.
Under the decision, no more than 20 people are allowed to take part in
celebrations and commemoration events, including but not limited to birthday,
wedding and engagement parties, memorial services and funerals.
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian
“In the case with funerals and memorial services we will try to provide a
slightly wider opportunity for participation while keeping an eye out for
crowding during ceremonies,” Avinian said.
Under the state of emergency, Armenia has also prohibited entry for foreigners
coming from countries most affected by the new coronavirus.
The measures come after Armenia’s Health Ministry reported an additional 22
cases late on Monday, with the total number of coronavirus patients in the
country as of midnight reaching 52. Officials say the first patient identified
in Armenia on March 1 has recovered.
In a live broadcast Minister Arsen Torosian said that a vast majority of
patients identified in Armenia do not even have symptoms. He said some of them
had been identified only due to having been in close contact with the already
confirmed patients. “Only two of the patients have developed pneumonia, but they
have it in a mild form,” the minister said.
At the same time, Torosian said that efforts were underway to establish the
source of infection in several new cases. “We are also identifying the scope of
their [new patients’] contacts in order to apply measures,” he added.
After the announcement of the state of emergency in Armenia, the Armenian
Apostolic Church disseminated an appeal from His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos
of All Armenians, on COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. The spiritual
leader announced that Armenian churches in Armenia and throughout the world will
conduct all liturgies behind closed doors, but will schedule regular open ours
for believes to make individual visits. Among other limitations the church also
announced the suspension of marriage ceremonies and limited its services during
funerals to graveyard ceremonies.
Late on Monday, speaking in parliament while presenting his government’s
decision on introducing the state of emergency, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
also called on people to take basic protective measures to reduce the risk of
contracting the highly contagious and potentially deadly virus. He said that
social distancing is one of the means to minimize the risk.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addressing parliament,
As Pashinian was addressing lawmakers, some social media users were posting
photographs alleging instances of panic buying in supermarkets in Yerevan and
provinces. The prime minister assured the public that Armenia has no shortage of
food supply and urged people not to buy more than they need.
“Strategically, of course, the fact that a state of emergency has been imposed
in the country means that we are having a crisis. But I want to say that our
strategic approach is as follows: we should come out of this crisis being
stronger in terms of both our economy and public health,” Prime Minister
Pashinian stressed.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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