Friday, September 4, 2020
Armenian Prosecutors Gear Up For Asset Seizures
Armenia -- Deputy Justice Minister Srbuhi Galian at a meeting in Yerevan,
October 15, 2019.
Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General has set up a special division tasked
with enforcing a controversial law allowing the confiscation of private
properties and other assets deemed to have been acquired illegally.
The law which the Armenian government pushed through the parliament in April
allows prosecutors to investigate individuals in case of having “sufficient
grounds to suspect” that the market value of their assets exceeds their “legal
incomes” by at least 50 million drams ($103,000). Should the prosecutors find
such discrepancies they can ask courts to nationalize those assets even if their
owners are not found guilty of corruption or other criminal offenses.
The latter will have to prove the legality of their holdings if they are to
retain them. They will also be given the option of reaching an out-of-court
settlement with the prosecutors, which would require them to hand over at least
75 percent of their assets in and outside Armenia to the state.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly portrayed the law as a major
anti-corruption measure that will help the authorities recover “wealth stolen
from the people.” Pashinian has indicated his intention to use it against the
country’s former rulers and their cronies branded by him as “plunderers.”
The politically sensitive process will be handled by a special team of
prosecutors. Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian appointed on Thursday the head of
the new division, his deputy and three other members, all of them prosecutors.
The division will be overseen by Srbuhi Galian, who was appointed as deputy
prosecutor-general on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Galian served as a deputy
minister of justice until then.
Later on Thursday Davtian met with the new appointees to discuss practical
modalities of their work. According to his press office, the chief prosecutor
told them that they will be performing “unprecedented” functions and must make
sure that there are “necessary legal grounds” for initiating asset seizures.
The two opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament have backed
the legal mechanism for asset forfeiture in principle.
But other, more hardline opposition groups and figures, among them supporters of
former President Serzh Sarkisian, have condemned the law as unconstitutional and
accused Pashinian of planning a far-reaching “redistribution of assets” to
cement his hold on power.
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian likewise warned that the bill could scare
away investors and lead to capital flight from Armenia when the government
discussed and approved it last December.
President Armen Sarkissian cited those concerns when he signed the bill into law
in May. “An unscrupulous enforcement of the law could undermine trust in the
state and jeopardize its effectiveness,” read a statement released by
Sarkissian’s office.
The statement specifically warned the authorities against arbitrarily accessing
and using citizens’ personal data, breaching bank secrecy or hampering business
activity and competition.
Armenian Prosecutors Gear Up For Asset Seizures
Սեպտեմբեր 04, 2020
Armenia -- Deputy Justice Minister Srbuhi Galian at a meeting in Yerevan,
October 15, 2019.
Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General has set up a special division tasked
with enforcing a controversial law allowing the confiscation of private
properties and other assets deemed to have been acquired illegally.
The law which the Armenian government pushed through the parliament in April
allows prosecutors to investigate individuals in case of having “sufficient
grounds to suspect” that the market value of their assets exceeds their “legal
incomes” by at least 50 million drams ($103,000). Should the prosecutors find
such discrepancies they can ask courts to nationalize those assets even if their
owners are not found guilty of corruption or other criminal offenses.
The latter will have to prove the legality of their holdings if they are to
retain them. They will also be given the option of reaching an out-of-court
settlement with the prosecutors, which would require them to hand over at least
75 percent of their assets in and outside Armenia to the state.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has repeatedly portrayed the law as a major
anti-corruption measure that will help the authorities recover “wealth stolen
from the people.” Pashinian has indicated his intention to use it against the
country’s former rulers and their cronies branded by him as “plunderers.”
The politically sensitive process will be handled by a special team of
prosecutors. Prosecutor-General Artur Davtian appointed on Thursday the head of
the new division, his deputy and three other members, all of them prosecutors.
The division will be overseen by Srbuhi Galian, who was appointed as deputy
prosecutor-general on Tuesday. The 28-year-old Galian served as a deputy
minister of justice until then.
Later on Thursday Davtian met with the new appointees to discuss practical
modalities of their work. According to his press office, the chief prosecutor
told them that they will be performing “unprecedented” functions and must make
sure that there are “necessary legal grounds” for initiating asset seizures.
The two opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament have backed
the legal mechanism for asset forfeiture in principle.
But other, more hardline opposition groups and figures, among them supporters of
former President Serzh Sarkisian, have condemned the law as unconstitutional and
accused Pashinian of planning a far-reaching “redistribution of assets” to
cement his hold on power.
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian likewise warned that the bill could scare
away investors and lead to capital flight from Armenia when the government
discussed and approved it last December.
President Armen Sarkissian cited those concerns when he signed the bill into law
in May. “An unscrupulous enforcement of the law could undermine trust in the
state and jeopardize its effectiveness,” read a statement released by
Sarkissian’s office.
The statement specifically warned the authorities against arbitrarily accessing
and using citizens’ personal data, breaching bank secrecy or hampering business
activity and competition.
First Lebanon Armenians Move To Armenia After Beirut Blast
• Nane Sahakian
Armenia -- Lebanese Armenian Aline Galemkerian and her children, Yerevan,
September 4, 2020.
More than a thousand ethnic Armenian citizens of Lebanon have immigrated to
Armenia since last month’s devastating explosion at Beirut port warehouses,
according to a government agency in Yerevan.
The office of Zareh Sinanyan, the Armenian government’s high commissioner for
Diaspora affairs, says that the vast majority of them have expressed a desire to
stay in their ancestral homeland for good.
According to various estimates, there are between 80,000 and 120,000 Armenians
living in Lebanon at present. The once thriving community struggled to cope with
Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis even before the August 4 explosion which
killed 181 people and left tens of thousands of other Beirut residents homeless.
Following the blast the Armenian government faced growing calls to facilitate
the “repatriation” of Lebanese Armenians. Government officials stressed that
they are free to immigrate to Armenia, pointing to twice-a-week Beirut-Yerevan
flights carried out despite coronavirus-related restrictions imposed in both
countries.
Aline Galemkerian, an Armenian woman from Beirut, arrived in Yerevan with her
two young sons two weeks ago. One of the boys is already taking piano lessons
there.
Lebanon -- Beirut's Gimmayzeh heavily damaged by the August 4 explosion.
Galemkerian said she and her husband had decided to relocate to Armenia and try
to start a new life there even before the Beirut blast that seriously damaged
their apartment.
“I wish we had not seen [the blast] and come here much earlier because it
affected us a lot in many ways,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
“I kept crying,” she said. “Tears in my eyes would not dry up for days. We lost
many Armenian and Arab friends.”
Galemkerian’s husband will join the family soon. “If my husband finds a job here
we will stay here [for good,]” said the young woman. “I feel good here. But I
don’t know if we can have the same [living] standards if we live and work here.”
Another Beirut Armenian, Elias Kalajian, owned and ran a small company
manufacturing furniture in the Lebanese capital until moving to Armenia last
week.
“I arrived alone. My son and his wife are coming here on Monday,” he said,
adding that his other son plans to join them later on.
Kalajian said that he would like to set up a similar furniture firm in Yerevan
and has already asked the Armenian Ministry of Economy to help him find and rent
premises for his small factory. The ministry has promised to explore the
possibility of such assistance.
Armenia -- Lebanese Armenian Elias Kalajian speaks to RFE/RL, September 4, 2020.
While being mindful of Armenia’s own economic problems aggravated by the
coronavirus pandemic, Kalajian seemed upbeat about doing business in the
country. “I must definitely try to work and succeed here,” he said.
Speaking to RFE/RL’s Armenian service late last month, Sinanyan said that his
office is now working on a “social, economic, educational and healthcare
package” aimed at facilitating the immigration of Lebanese Armenians. “We want
to bring them to Armenia,” said the official. “We do not want them to move to
another country.”
Kalajian confirmed that more Lebanese Armenians are now thinking about settling
in Armenia. “Many friends told me: ‘You go there and we’ll follow you,’” he
said. “They want to see what I can achieve here before they decide to come here.
If they are encouraged they too will come.”
“Just like me, they have families, children and grandchildren,” added the
businessman. “Everyone wants to come. But they need a bit of encouragement.”
Tsarukian ‘Insists’ On Government’s Resignation
• Gayane Saribekian
ARMENIA -- A supporter of Armenian opposition leader Gagik Tsarukian holds its
portrait during a unauthorized rally close to National Secuirury Service
headquarter in Yerevan, June 14, 2020
Gagik Tsarukian stands by his calls for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s
resignation made three months ago, a leading member of his Prosperous Armenia
Party (BHK) said on Friday.
In a June 5 speech, Tsarukian accused Pashinian’s government of mishandling
Armenia’s coronavirus crisis and failing to mitigate its socioeconomic
consequences. Pashinian and his loyalists reacted angrily to that speech.
Ten days later, Tsarukian was stripped of its parliamentary immunity from
prosecution and indicted on vote buying charges rejected by him as politically
motivated. He claims that Pashinian ordered the criminal proceedings in response
to his speech.
Tsarukian, who is one of the country’s richest businessmen, reiterated last week
his criticism of the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic and other
policies. But he stopped short of demanding that Pashinian and all members of
his government step down.
Mikael Melkumian, a senior BHK figure, insisted that Tsarukian remains
determined to achieve the government’s resignation and force snap elections.
“What was said on June 5 and afterwards remains in force,” he told journalists.
“In a political struggle you don’t have to repeat the same thing every day,”
Melkumian said when asked about Tsarukian’s most recent statements that did not
mention regime change.
Shortly after Tsarukian’s indictment, the BHK, which has the second largest
group in Armenia’s parliament, joined forces with two other opposition parties:
Hayrenik and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). They have
not ruled out the possibility of holding joint anti-government rallies.
Hayk Gevorgian, a senior parliamentarian from the ruling My Step bloc, was
dismissive of the threat to Pashinian’s hold on power emanating from the BHK. He
said Tsarukian’s party is simply trying to preserve its shrinking support base
in the face of the ongoing criminal proceedings against its leader.
“In reality, the BHK has one objective: the issues connected with its leader,”
Gevorgian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “You know about the criminal cases.”
Gevorgian said that the BHK and other opposition forces cannot come to power by
exploiting the coronavirus pandemic and resulting socioeconomic hardship. “They
are in a hurry because very soon this environment will be over, economic
progress in Armenia will resume and they will stand no chance,” he said, adding
that most Armenians continue to support the current government.
The Armenian economy is on course to shrink in 2020 after three consecutive
years of robust growth.
Armenian Parliament Passes Bill On Coronavirus Restrictions
• Naira Nalbandian
Armenia -- Young women wear face masks in Yerevan, August 11, 2020.
The National Assembly approved on Friday a bill allowing the Armenian government
to continue to enforce coronavirus-related safety rules and restrictions after
lifting a state of emergency declared in March.
The bill passed in the first reading by 80 votes to 28 involves amendments to
several Armenian laws. They empower relevant authorities to impose nationwide or
local lockdowns, seal off communities hit by COVID-19 outbreaks, close Armenia’s
borders and isolate people infected with the disease. The authorities can also
ban or restrict public gatherings in the country.
The government drafted the bill to avoid extending the state of emergency again
on September 11.
Deputies representing the two parliamentary opposition parties, Prosperous
Armenia (BHK) and Bright Armenia (LHK), voted against the measure, saying that
the government is hastily pushing it through parliament without a proper debate.
The BHK’s Naira Zohrabian also claimed that it violates some articles of the
Armenian constitution.
Both the BHK and the LHK had for months criticized Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian’s government for repeatedly prolonging emergency rule. Some of their
senior members had said that the government is not lifting it in order to keep
in place a coronavirus-related ban on street protests.
The government lifted the ban last month. It at the same time set strict
physical distancing requirements for organizers and participants of rallies.
Armenia -- Deputy Justice Minister Rafik Grigorian presents a government bill on
coronavirus-related restrictions to lawmakers, September 4, 2020.
The government used the state of emergency to impose a nationwide lockdown in
late March. It began easing lockdown restrictions already in mid-April.
With the number of coronavirus cases in the country growing rapidly in the
following weeks, the authorities put the emphasis on the enforcement of safety
rules requiring Armenians to practice social distancing and wear face masks in
all public areas.
The daily number of new coronavirus cases has shrunk by more than half since
mid-July. Citing this downward trend, the government decided late last month to
reopen universities and schools on September 1 and September 15 respectively.
The Armenian Ministry of Health said on Friday morning that 190 more people have
tested positive for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing to 44,461 the total
number of cases recorded in the country of about 3 million.
The ministry also reported the deaths of five more people infected with
COVID-19. The official total number of people killed by the disease thus reached
891. According to ministry data, 272 other infected persons have died from
other, pre-existing conditions.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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