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    Categories: 2020

RFE/RL Armenian Report – 05/25/2020

                                        Monday, 

Former Security Chief Coy About Pashinian’s ‘Deal Offer’

        • Sargis Harutyunyan

Armenia -- Former National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian speaks to 
journalists, .

Artur Vanetsian, the former head of Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS), 
on Monday declined to confirm or deny claims that he had offered former 
President Serzh Sarkisian’s fugitive son-in-law a far-reaching deal on behalf of 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Mikael Minasian, who had enjoyed considerable clout during Sarkisian’s 
decade-long rule, claimed on May 2 that Pashinian offered to guarantee his and 
his father’s immunity from prosecution if he pledges to pay cash and stop 
challenging the Armenian government. He said Vanetsian personally communicated 
Pashinian’s proposal to him during a February 2019 meeting held in Rome.

Pashinian has refused to comment on Minasian’s allegations, saying that they are 
investigated by the Special Investigative Service (SIS). The law-enforcement 
agency summoned Vanetsian for questioning on May 7. The latter reportedly 
refused to give any testimony.

The SIS tried to question Vanetsian again on Monday. The former NSS chief, who 
is now a bitter critic of Pashinian, gave no details of the interrogation when 
he spoke to journalists after emerging from the SIS headquarters.

Asked whether what Minasian said is true, he said: “I neither refute it nor 
refuse to refute it. I don’t comment.” He argued that he is not allowed to 
breach “the secrecy of the investigation.”

Vanetsian claimed late last year that he met with Minasian on the prime 
minister’s orders when he ran Armenia’s most powerful security service. He stood 
by that statement on Monday but again did not elaborate.

“I can only say one thing: I acted solely within the bounds of my legal powers,” 
Vanetsian told RFE/RL’s Armenian as he made his way into the SIS building.


Armenia -- Mikael Minasian.

Minasian, who now lives abroad, made the allegations one week after it emerged 
that he was charged with illegal enrichment, false asset disclosure and money 
laundering earlier this year. He rejected the accusations as politically 
motivated.

Pashinian has repeatedly accused Minasian of illegally making a huge fortune 
during Sarkisian’s rule.

A newspaper controlled by the prime minister alleged in January that Minasian 
and Vanetsian have joined forces in a bid to topple him. Also, a spokeswoman for 
Pashinian claimed late last month that “according to the government’s 
information” Vanetsian abused his NSS position to buy Minasian’s minority stake 
in Armenia’s largest mining company. Vanetsian strongly denied that.

Vanetsian resigned as NSS director last September after falling out with 
Pashinian for still unclear reasons. He officially announced his entry into 
politics in February, saying that he is setting up an opposition party for that 
purpose.

In recent months, the former security chief has repeatedly accused Pashinian of 
incompetence and misrule and called for his resignation.




Opposition Lawmakers Return To ‘Violent’ Parliament

        • Gayane Saribekian

Armenia -- Pro-government and opposition deputies brawl on the parliament floor, 
Yerevan, May 8, 2020.

The opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK) ended on Monday a two-week boycott of 
sessions of the parliament despite accusing its pro-government majority of not 
renouncing violent responses to criticism.

LHK lawmakers walked out of the National Assembly on May 8 following a brawl 
involving their leader Edmon Marukian and deputies from Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian’s My Step bloc. One of those deputies, Sasun Mikaelian, punched 
Marukian while the latter spoke on the parliament floor in the presence of 
Pashinian and government ministers.

Pashinian deplored the violence but blamed it on LHK “provocations.” Marukian’s 
party charged in response that he thereby “justified, legitimized and 
encouraged” violence against his political opponents. It also demanded 
Mikaelian’s resignation.

The ruling bloc responded by saying that Mikaelian will resign from the 
parliament only if Marukian quits too.

The brawl prompted a preliminary inquiry by Armenia’s Special Investigative 
Service (SIS). The law-enforcement body announced at the weekend that it cannot 
indict anyone because neither Marukian nor any other parliamentarian suffered 
multiple blows during the May 8 incident. Citing a “precedent-setting” ruling 
handed down by the Court of Cassation in 2012, the SIS said that a “single blow 
cannot be qualified as a beating.”


Armenia -- Bright Armenia Party leader Edmon Marukian at a news conference in 
Yerevan, April 20, 2020.

The LHK rejected this explanation on Monday. It said footage of the incident 
clearly shows that its leader was hit not only by Mikaelian but also two other 
My Step deputies. In a statement, the opposition party also insisted that the 
SIS has enough evidence to bring charges under another article of the Criminal 
Code that deals with “hooliganism.”

Marukian said the authorities’ response to the LHK boycott suggests that a 
repeat of the May 8 violence may well be possible.

“We have drawn conclusions and will return to work with those conclusions in 
mind and in the knowledge that at some point someone could hit us from behind. 
We have to be careful and look back and around us,” he told a news conference.

“We are dealing with people who can hit us from behind, people who justify 
violence, people who do not tolerate dissent and label it as a provocation,” 
claimed the LHK leader.

Alen Simonian, a deputy parliament speaker and senior My Step member, shrugged 
off these claims.

“People have seen everything and know who Edmon Marukian is in the political 
sense,” said Simonian. “The authorities have condemned violence and never 
resorted to it, even when the public demanded it.”




Arrests Spark Protests In Armenian Town

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia -- Kajaran Mayor Manvel Paramazian (L) leads a demonstration outside a 
police station in Kapan, 

Hundreds of residents of Karajan, a small town in southeastern Armenia, took to 
the streets on Sunday to protest against the arrest of four local men linked to 
its mayor.

The mayor, Manvel Paramazian, led the daylong protests after condemning the 
“unfounded arrests” and claiming that they are part of his “political 
persecution” by law-enforcement authorities.

Paramazian’s protesting supporters gathered outside a police station in Kapan, 
the nearby capital of the country’s Syunik province, where the arrested men were 
held on suspicion of violent assault. Angered by rumors about their 
ill-treatment in police custody, the crowd tried to stop the local police from 
transferring the suspects to Yerevan.

Syunik Governor Hunan Poghosian addressed it, promising that the criminal 
investigation will objective. The protesters refused to disperse, however.

Paramazian added to their fury after being allowed to enter the police station 
and see the detainees. He alleged that they were indeed tortured by policemen.

Still, the protesters agreed to unblock the entrance to the police station at 
Paramazian’s urging at around midnight. The mayor said local officials assured 
him that the probe will be fair and that the men connected to him will not be 
subjected to violence.

In a late-night statement, Armenia’s Investigative Committee clarified that the 
arrested men are suspected of kidnapping and beating up another Kajaran resident 
late last month. It said investigators also found large quantities of marijuana 
in a house belonging to one of the suspects.

The statement indicated that Paramazian is also regarded as a suspect in the 
case. It said investigators are now trying to “verify” and “ascertain” the 
mayor’s possible involvement in the violence.

Paramazian, who has run the industrial town since 2016, confirmed that the 
police searched his home last week.

Meanwhile, prosecutors in Yerevan said on Monday that they have instructed 
another law-enforcement body, the Special Investigative Service, to investigate 
the torture allegations. Also, the national police chief, Aram Sargsian, ordered 
an internal inquiry for the same purpose.

A lawyer representing one of the arrested men, Khoren Mirzoyan, told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian service that his client did not claim to have been ill-treated by 
policemen when they spoke on Sunday. He also said that Mirzoyan denies any 
involvement in the alleged violence.

Located about 370 kilometers southeast of Yerevan, Kajaran is home to Armenia’s 
largest mining enterprise. The Zangezur Copper-Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC) employs 
more than 4,000 people. Many of them are Kajaran residents.

According to the Investigative Committee, the four arrested men also work at 
ZCMC.




Armenian PM Blames Businesses For Coronavirus Spike


Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian addresses the nation on Facebook, May 
24, 2020.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian held businesses reopened by his government over 
the past month primarily responsible for the accelerating spread of coronavirus 
in Armenia which resulted in another daily high of COVID-19 cases and deaths on 
Sunday.

The Armenian Ministry of Health said on Monday morning that as many as 452 
people tested positive for coronavirus in the past day, bringing to 7,113 the 
total number of confirmed cases in the country of about 3 million. The latest 
daily number of new infections is sharply up from the previous record high of 
374 cases recorded on Friday.

With the ministry reporting 6 more deaths, the official death toll from the 
epidemic rose to 87. It does not include the deaths of 39 other people infected 
with the respiratory disease. The ministry claims that they died primarily as a 
result of other, pre-existing conditions.

Six such fatalities were registered on Sunday. One of the victims is a 
31-year-old woman who gave birth about a week ago, according to a ministry 
statement.

Pashinian took to Facebook late on Sunday to discuss this “very dangerous 
situation” and present further actions planned by the Armenian authorities.

“The main reason for the rise in the number of cases is industrial enterprises,” 
he said in a video address. “More than 75 percent and even 80 percent of [new] 
cases are registered in industrial enterprises and the services sector.”


Armenia -- A busy cafe in downtown Yerevan, May 14, 2020

Pashinian accused those businesses of failing to observe social distancing and 
hygiene rules set by the government. He said the government will now enforce 
tougher penalties for such violations.

“Those cafes, restaurants, bank branches, manufacturing enterprises or 
hairdresser salons which do not observe the safety rules will be harshly shut 
down,” he declared.

Pashinian’s government ordered the closure of most nonessential businesses and 
seriously restricted people’s movements as part of a nationwide lockdown imposed 
in late March. But it began relaxing these restrictions already in mid-April.

Although the daily numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases steadily increased in the 
following weeks, most sectors of the Armenian economy were reopened by May 4. 
The government went on to lift its ban on public transport and allow 
kindergartens, shopping malls, indoor restaurants and gyms to resume their work.

Opposition figures and other critics say that the authorities ended the lockdown 
too soon and never enforced it properly in the first place.

Pashinian effectively acknowledged on Sunday that the lifting of the lockdown 
has contributed to the spread of the virus. But he insisted that the measure was 
necessary for economic reasons.

Accordingly, the prime minister gave no indications that he may restore lockdown 
restrictions. He made clear instead that the authorities will continue to put 
the emphasis on the “people’s consciousness.” He again urged them to practice 
social distancing and wear face masks in all enclosed spaces and shops in 
particular.


Armenia -- People stroll in the center of Yerevan, May 22, 2020.

Armenians have already been required for the last few weeks to wear masks and 
gloves when entering shops, banks and other businesses. There has been ample 
evidence of widespread non-compliance with this requirement, however.

Health Minister Arsen Torosian repeatedly warned last week that the number of 
people dying from coronavirus could rise sharply soon. He is particularly 
worried about an impeding shortage of intensive care beds at the Armenian 
hospitals treating COVID-19 patients.

In a Facebook post, Torosian said on Sunday evening that 154 of 186 such beds 
available in the country are already occupied. He also wrote: “We have 230 
patients in a serious condition and 52 patients in a critical condition.”

Faced with the soaring number of new cases, the health authorities on Friday 
stopped hospitalizing or isolating infected people showing mild symptoms of the 
virus or none at all. Such individuals are now supposed to self-isolate at home.


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.

 


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