Sunday, Armenian Opposition Leader Freed Despite Coup Charges • Naira Bulghadarian Armenia -- Former National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian addresses opposition protesters in Yerevan, November 11, 2020. Artur Vanetsian, a former National Security Service (NSS) director leading an opposition party, was released from custody late on Sunday despite being charged with plotting to assassinate Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and overthrow Armenia’s government. The NSS arrested Vanetsian and three other opposition members on Saturday. It formally brought the same coup and murder charges against three of the suspects on Sunday just hours after Yerevan courts opened hearings on appeals against their preliminary detention filed by their lawyers. The latter rejected the accusation as politically motivated. One of the court judges agreed to declare Vanetsian’s detention unjustified and order his release. Another judge is expected to rule on Monday on the former NSS chief’s pre-trial arrest sought by investigators. Vanetsian’s Hayrenik (Fatherland) party is one of 17 Armenian opposition groups that launched on November 10 street protests against the terms of a Russian-mediated ceasefire agreement that stopped the Armenian-Azerbaijani war in Nagorno-Karabakh. They accuse Pashinian of capitulating to Azerbaijan and demand his resignation. The prime minister has dismissed the accusations. The Armenian authorities say that the opposition protests are illegal, citing martial law declared by them following the outbreak of the war on September 27. The opposition forces have pledged to continue their demonstrations in Yerevan, however. One of the arrested and indicted suspects, Ashot Minasian, is the commander of a volunteer militia from the southeastern town of Sisian that took part in the six-week war. The NSS claimed on Saturday to have found large quantities of weapons in a property belonging to him. On Sunday the security service publicized what it described as audio of Minasian’s wiretapped phone conversations with two other suspects, Vahram Baghdasarian and Ashot Avagian, during which they blamed Pashinian for the unsuccessful war and seemingly discussed ways of assassinating him and seizing power. Baghdasarian is a senior member of former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party while Avagian is affiliated with the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). One of Vanetsian’s lawyers, Lusine Sahakian, insisted that the recordings do not prove her client’s involvement in the alleged conspiracy. Speaking before his release, Sahakian said the NSS has failed to substantiate its accusations against Vanetsian with any other evidence. Vanetsian, 40, was appointed as head of the NSS immediately after the 2018 “Velvet Revolution” that brought Pashinian to power. He resigned in September 2019 after falling out with Pashinian. He has since repeatedly accused Pashinian of incompetence and misrule, prompting angry responses from the premier and his political allies. Russia ‘Satisfied’ With Karabakh Truce Observance Armenia - Russian peacekeeping troops heading to Nagorno-Karabakh are seen on a highway in Armenia, November 13, 2020. In fresh phone calls with the leaders of Armenia and Azerbaijan, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has praised the implementation of a Russian-mediated ceasefire agreement that stopped the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Kremlin said Putin phoned Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev late on Saturday to discuss “practical aspects of implementing the agreement” announced by them on November 10. “The parties expressed satisfaction over the observance of ceasefire and a fairly calm situation along the contact line,” it added in a statement. The agreement came six weeks after the outbreak of large-scale hostilities in and around Karabakh that left thousands of soldiers from both sides dead and displaced tens of thousands of civilians. Azerbaijan agreed to halt offensive military operations in return for an Armenian pledge to withdraw by the end of this month from three districts around Karabakh. Baku regained control over four other districts, which had been occupied by Karabakh Armenian forces in the early 1990s, during the latest war. The truce accord also calls for the deployment in the conflict zone of around 2,000 Russian peacekeepers and the return of refugees and internally displaced persons. NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- A man loads possessions on his truck after setting his home on fire in Kelbajar (Karvachar), November 13, 2020. Putin announced on Friday that the Russian government will set up an Interagency Center for Humanitarian Reaction to assist in the return of the refugees and reconstruction of civilian infrastructure damaged during the war. He said the center will also provide “humanitarian aid to residents of districts that have suffered from the hostilities.” The Kelbajar district sandwiched between Armenia and Karabakh is due to be handed back to Azerbaijan by Monday. Virtually all of its 3,500 or so ethnic Armenian residents have left their homes in recent days. Many of them have burned down their houses and other properties. Kelbajar is also home to the 12th century Armenian monastery of Dadivank. RFE/RL Armenian Service correspondent Susan Badalian reported from there on Saturday that scores of grief-stricken worshippers held farewell ceremonies as clergymen removed bells and traditional Armenian cross stones in advance of the area’s handover to Azerbaijan. The monastery abbot, Father Hovannes, insisted at the same time he has no intention to leave Dadivank. “I’m going to stay in my church,” he told reporters. Nagorno-Karabakh - The medieval Armenian monastery of Dadivank, September 8, 2018. Later on Saturday, a spokeswoman for the Armenian Apostolic Church said that the Dadivank clergymen will stay put and continue to hold religious services there. “Dadivank is now under the control of Russian peacekeepers and not at risk,” Father Vahram Melikian wrote on Facebook. Russian soldiers set up a post just outside the monastery on Friday as they continued to enter Karabakh as part of their peacekeeping mission. According to the Kremlin statement, Putin also discussed with Aliyev the fate of the Christian churches in areas handed over to Muslim Azerbaijan. “In this context he stressed the importance of ensuring the preservation and normal operation of those holy sites,” the statement said. “The President of Azerbaijan expressed understanding in this respect and said that Azerbaijan will certainly act in this spirit.” 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.