Thursday,
Armenian Parliament Approves Heavier Fines For Defamation
• Nane Sahakian
Armenia - Deputy parliament speaker Alen Simonian speaks to journalists, January
30, 2020
Ignoring strong objections from press freedom groups, the Armenian parliament
approved on Thursday a fivefold increase in maximum legal fines set for
defamation.
Under a bill passed by the National Assembly in the first reading, media outlets
and individuals convicted of “slander” could be fined as much as 10 million
drams ($19,200) while those making offensive claims will face a maximum fine of
up to 5 million drams.
The bill involving relevant amendments to the Armenian Criminal Code was drafted
last year by Alen Simonian, a deputy parliament speaker and leading member of
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc.
In a joint statement issued in September, Armenia’s leading media organizations
denounced it as a threat to the freedom of speech.
One of the signatories, Shushan Doydoyan of the Yerevan-based Center for Freedom
of Information, insisted on Thursday that the much heavier fines could be used
by the government or non-state actors to muzzle the mass media. She also argued
that anonymous social media accounts will remain the main sources of slanderous
information and will not be affected by the bill.
“We stated that this is a politically motivated bill which cannot contribute to
the fight against irresponsible journalism, disinformation or slander,” Doydoyan
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “It is completely useless. At the same time it
could deal a serious blow to the mass media and freedom of speech in general.”
The Armenian government also objected to the sharp toughening of defamation
penalties. Addressing lawmakers, Deputy Justice Minister Vahe Danielian said it
is disproportionate and could disrupt the “fair balance” between the freedom of
expression and people’s honor and dignity.
Simonian insisted on the proposed amendments. He dismissed concerns about its
impact on press freedom, saying that it will be up to Armenian courts to
determine the amount of fines for various libel offenses.
Simonian’s bill was then backed by 72 deputies of the 132-member parliament.
All forms of libel were decriminalized in Armenia in 2010 during the rule of
former President Serzh Sarkisian. Many members of the current parliament now
seem ready to make it a criminal offense again.
“If necessary I too will stand for criminalizing insults and slander,” Babken
Tunian, a senior pro-government lawmaker and former journalist, said during
Thursday’s parliament debate.
“I think that would be a step backwards,” countered Heriknaz Tigranian, another
deputy representing the ruling bloc.
Karabakh Activist Freed Despite Coup Charge
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Vahan Badasian talks to journalists at the Yerablur Military Pantheon
in Yerevan, January 28, 2021
A prominent Nagorno-Karabakh politician and war veteran was released late on
Wednesday two weeks after being arrested on charges of calling for a violent
overthrow of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
Vahan Badasian branded Pashinian an “enemy” of the nation and blamed the latter
for the Armenian side’s defeat in the autumn war with Azerbaijan when he spoke
with journalists at Yerevan’s Yerablur military cemetery on January 28. He said
Pashinian will be removed from power “physically” and through an armed revolt if
he keeps refusing to step down.
Badasian was arrested a few hours later. A Yerevan court remanded him in
pre-trial custody on charges of publicly advocating a violent regime change.
A prosecutor overseeing the criminal investigation said on Wednesday that
Badasian will be set free for now because he realized the illegal character of
his statement.
Badasian seemed unrepentant and described the charges leveled against him as
“ridiculous” on Thursday.
His lawyer, Arayik Papikian, insisted that the charges are politically motivated
and his client never called for a violent overthrow of the constitutional
order.” “He did not and does not intend to take any illegal actions,” Papikian
told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Badasian, who leads a small party not represented in Karabakh’s parliament,
lived in the southern Karabakh town of Hadrut occupied by Azerbaijani forces
during the recent war. He took part in the six-week war and was wounded in
action.
Armenian opposition groups have also condemned Pashinian’s handling of the war
and demanded his resignation. The prime minister has rejected their demands.
EU-Armenia Accord Set To Take Effect
• Artak Khulian
Belgium - EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and Armenian Foreign
Minister Edward Nalbandian sign the Armenia-EU Comprehensive and Enhanced
Partnership Agreement in Brussels, 24Nov2017.
European Union member states have completed the ratification of the EU’s
Comprehensive and Enhanced Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with Armenia which was
signed more than three years ago.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said the EU notified Yerevan about the “completion
of the ratification process” on Wednesday.
“The Agreement will fully enter into force on March 1, 2021,” the ministry
announced in a statement.
The 350-page agreement commits the Armenian authorities to carrying out
political reforms that will democratize the country’s political system and boost
human rights protection. They must also gradually “approximate” Armenian
economic laws and regulations to those of the EU.
The CEPA was signed in November 2017 as a less ambitious substitute for an
Association Agreement which Armenian and EU negotiators nearly finalized in
2013. Then Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian scuttled the signing of that
agreement with his unexpected decision to seek his country’s membership in a
Russian-led trade bloc.
The Foreign Ministry described the CEPA as a “solid legal basis” for deepening
Armenia’s ties with the EU in a wide range of areas.
“The effective implementation of the Agreement will bring tangible results to
our citizens by promoting democracy, political, economic and social stability
through extensive reforms and will over time have a positive impact on the
welfare of our citizens,” read its statement.
Arman Yeghoyan, the chairman of the Armenian parliament committee on European
integration, likewise expressed confidence on Thursday that the accord will
produce “qualitative changes” in Armenia’s relationship with the EU.
Yeghoyan said that although the CEPA makes no reference to visa liberalization
it will facilitate the eventual lifting of the EU’s visa requirements for
Armenian citizens.
Armenian Government Vows Bypass Roads In Border Region
• Susan Badalian
Armenia/Azerbaijan -- A new billboard at an Azerbaijani-controlled section of a
highway leading to the Armenian city of Kapan, February 2, 2021. (Photo by
Armenia's Office of Human Rights Defender).
The Armenian government has pledged to build or repair roads bypassing areas
along Armenia’s southeastern Syunik province controversially handed over to
Azerbaijan as a result of the Russian-brokered ceasefire in the Nagorno-Karabakh
conflict zone.
Syunik borders the Zangelan and Kubatli districts southwest of Karabakh which
were mostly recaptured by Azerbaijan during the autumn war in Karabakh. Armenian
army units and local militias completed in December their withdrawal from parts
of the districts close to Syunik’s capital Kapan and many other communities.
Some of those lands are located along the Soviet-era Armenian-Azerbaijani border
which has never been demarcated due to the Karabakh conflict. Local government
officials in Syunik and opposition figures in Yerevan have accused Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian of hastily and illegally ceding them to Baku. Pashinian
has insisted that “not a single inch” of Armenia’s internationally recognized
territory has been lost as a result of the troop withdrawal.
The areas in question include a 20-kilometer section of the main highway
connecting Kapan to another major Syunik town, Goris. A 4-kilometer section of
another provincial highway stretching from Kapan to several Armenian villages
was also placed under Azerbaijani control.
Under further Armenian-Azerbaijan agreements reached after the ceasefire deal,
Syunik residents are still able to travel along those road sections without any
restrictions. Their security is to be guaranteed by Russian military posts set
up there recently.
A road connecting Kapan to Goris, September 3, 2018.
With the Karabakh conflict still unresolved, many Syunik residents are wary of
using the roads for safety reasons. Their concerns have been aggravated by
several reported cases of Azerbaijani border guards and soldiers standing on the
contested road sections and watching car traffic through them.
Speaking in the Armenian parliament on Wednesday, Minister for Territorial
Administration and Infrastructures Suren Papikian promised new bypass roads for
the mountainous region that also borders Iran.
“As soon as weather conditions allow, we will build them,” Papikian said without
elaborating.
Travellers can also navigate between Kapan and Goris through another road
located deeper inside Armenian territory. But its principal 42-kilometer section
has been barely used since the early 1990s and has fallen into disrepair.
Azerbaijani border guards are seen from the Armeian village of Syunik, February
8, 2021.
A government-funded reconstruction of 12 kilometers of that road was completed
last year shortly before the outbreak of the Armenian-Azerbaijani war. The
government planned to refurbish a second, 17-kilometer section of it this year.
“Given the new situation, we have called for the reconstruction of the entire
30-kilometer stretch [in 2021,]” Kapan Mayor Gevorg Parsian told RFE/RL’s
Armenian Service on Thursday.
Parsian said the government is also planning to build from scratch another
highway that will bypass the 4-kilometer road stretch that also technically
belongs to Azerbaijan now. He said local authorities want a longer bypass that
will reach villages located farther from Syunik’s main city.
The government is also understood to be planning to repair a road connecting
Kapan to three other Armenian villages.
The new roads will not address all security concerns of residents of the
Armenian border communities. Some of them are now located just a few hundred
meters from nearest Azerbaijani military posts.
In a village just east of Kapan, also called Syunik, the house belonging to
Martun Arzumanian is now separated from Azerbaijan by the Voghji river. On a
recent afternoon, two Azerbaijani servicemen could be seen manning a border post
overlooking the village.
A view from the village of Shurnukh, December 19, 2020.
“When they talk to each other loudly you can hear them,” Arzumanian told
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “The river is only 10-12 meters wide. They can hit us
even with stones.”
“How can you not be alarmed when the enemy is only a few meters away?” said
another villager, Anushavan Sargsian.
Another village, Shurnukh, straddles the existing Kapan-Goris highway. It was
effectively divided into two parts as a result of the Armenian-Azerbaijani
border delimitation.
Twelve Shurnukh houses are on what is now the Azerbaijani side of the frontier.
Their residents were evacuated before Azerbaijani forces entered that part of
the village in December. The Armenian government has pledged to build new homes
for them.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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