Monday,
Head Of Armenian Judicial Watchdog Shows ‘Proof Of Government Blackmail’
• Anush Mkrtchian
Armenia - Ruben Vartazarian, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, at a news
conference in Yerevan, .
The nominal head of Armenia’s judicial watchdog controversially suspended last
year publicized on Monday an audio recording which he believes corroborates his
claims that the government warned him to resign or face criminal charges.
The official, Ruben Vartazarian, was suspended as chairman of the Supreme
Judicial Council (SJC) and charged with obstruction of justice in April 2021
amid rising tensions with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Pashinian’s political
allies accused him of encouraging courts to free arrested government critics.
Vartazarian denied the charges and said that he was indicted as part of
government efforts to replace him with Gagik Jahangirian, a controversial former
prosecutor widely seen as a figure loyal to Pashinian.
Jahangirian was named as acting head of the SJC pending the outcome of the
criminal investigation into Vartazarian. The investigation is still going on,
according to law-enforcement authorities.
At a news conference held in Yerevan, Vartazarian released a secretly recorded
audio of his conversation with Jahangirian and another SJC member, Stepan
Mikaelian, which he said took place on February 20, 2021.
Armenia - Gagik Jahangirian, the acting chairman of the Supreme Judicial
Council, at a news conference in Yerevan, August 2, 2021.
Jahangirian can be heard seemingly telling Vartazarian that he will not face
criminal proceedings if he steps down as SJC chairman by March 1, 2021.
“I’m telling you, forget about everything, put aside everything, you have kids,
you have a home,” Jahangirian says, adding that he does not want “bad things” to
happen to Vartazarian.
Neither Jahangirian nor the SJC denied the authenticity of the 14-minute audio.
The judicial watchdog, which nominates judges and can also dismiss them,
released a statement downplaying the significance of the audio. It said that it
will not comment on the “private conversation” recorded without Jahangirian’s
knowledge.
The acting head of the SJC told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that he has nothing to
add to the statement.
Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General said, meanwhile, that it has
instructed another law-enforcement agency to examine the recording and determine
if there was indeed “illegal interference” in criminal investigations relating
to Vartazarian.
Armenia - The Supreme Judicial Council holds a hearing in Yerevan, July 26, 2021.
Ever since Jahangirian took over the SJC, Armenian courts have rarely rejected
arrest warrants sought by law-enforcement authorities for opposition figures
prosecuted on various charges rejected by them as politically motivated.
Independent and pro-opposition media outlets have regularly accused Jahangirian
of pressuring judges to make such decisions. He denies that.
Jahangirian stated last August that Armenian courts must be purged of “people
who have committed crimes against justice.” The 67-year-old himself had been
accused of grave human rights abuses when serving Armenia’s chief military
prosecutor from 1997-2006.
In recent months, Armenian opposition groups, lawyers and some judges have
accused Pashinian’s government of seeking to increase government influence on
courts under the guise of judicial reforms. The government says the reforms are
on the contrary increasing judicial independence.
European diplomats signaled their continuing support for the declared reforms
during a June 8 conference in Yerevan organized by the country’s Constitutional
Court and the Council of Europe. Armenian opposition lawmakers were not allowed
to take part in the conference.
U.S. Says Ready To Work With Russia On Karabakh Peace
• Heghine Buniatian
Armenia - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Karen Donfried is interviewed by
RFE/RL in Yerevan, June 18, 2022.
The United States is willing to continue to cooperate with Russia in
facilitating a settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Karen Donfried insisted over the weekend.
The U.S., Russia and France have for decades jointly tried to broker an
Armenian-Azerbaijani peace accord in their capacity as the co-chairs of the OSCE
Minsk Group. According to Russian officials, Washington and Paris stopped
working with Moscow in the Minsk Group format following the Russian invasion of
Ukraine.
Donfried denied this as she visited Armenia on the last leg of her tour of the
three South Caucasus states.
“The U.S. has continued to say that we support the Minsk Group co-chair
process,” she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service in an interview. “We continue to
believe that it is a very important format, particularly on Nagorno-Karabakh,
and it is essential that we keep various formats in play to try to advance
peace. And we will continue to do that going forward.”
Asked whether Washington is ready for fresh contacts with Moscow for that
purpose, Donfried said: “Yes. Russia is a Minsk Group co-chair. France, the U.S.
and Russia would continue in that format.”
In recent weeks, Armenia’s leaders have called for renewed joint activities of
U.S., Russian and French co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group. Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian reportedly discussed the matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin
in a June 1 phone.
Armenia - Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meets with U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State Karen Donfried, June 18, 2022.
By contrast, Azerbaijani officials and President Ilham Aliyev in particular have
repeatedly questioned the need for the Minsk Group’s continued existence. Aliyev
has said that the war in Ukraine has effectively put an end to that joint
mediation framework.
“Azerbaijan has not been supportive of the Minsk Group co-chair process, the
United States is,” said Donfried. “We are a participant in that process and we
will continue to do so.”
The U.S. official met with Aliyev in Baku before proceeding to Yerevan for talks
with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian held on Saturday. She said that in both
capitals she “felt a desire for peaceful settlement.”
Aliyev on Thursday implicitly threatened to resort to military action if Armenia
continues to oppose the opening of a land corridor connecting Azerbaijan to its
Nakhichevan exclave. Officials in Yerevan responded by reiterating that
Armenian-Azerbaijani agreements brokered by Russia call for only conventional
transport links between the two South Caucasus states.
Commenting on Aliyev’s bellicose rhetoric, Donfried said: “There is no question
that words matter and so we need to be thoughtful about the words that we use. I
think actions matter as well but if there is going to be forward progress toward
reconciliation between Azerbaijan and Armenia there is no question that people
need to be mindful about their words.”
Armenian President ‘Happy’ With Russia’s Resilience To Sanctions
Russia - Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturian talks to other Armenian
participants of an economic forum in St Petersburg, June 17, 2022.
President Vahagn Khachaturian has praised Russia’s response to Western
sanctions, saying that Moscow has confounded gloomy economic predictions made
right after its invasion of Ukraine.
Khachaturian was among foreign dignitaries who attended an international
economic forum held in Saint Petersburg late last week with almost no Western
participation. He sat next to the speakers of both houses of Russia’s parliament
during the main plenary session of the annual forum that featured a keynote
address by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Putin again defended his “special military operation” in Ukraine and dismissed
the resulting Western sanctions as an “economic blitzkrieg against Russia had no
chance of succeeding from the very beginning.” He claimed that the unprecedented
sanctions are primarily damaging Western economies.
Meeting with Putting later on Friday, Khachaturian said he agrees with “the
conclusions which you drew” in the speech.
“It’s really a new era,” he said at the start of the meeting. “One should
probably think about how to continue to develop in the new conditions that open
up new opportunities.”
“I am sure that Russia’s economy will survive based on the resources and means
at its disposal and given [what happened in] the last two months,” he went on.
“The expectations, the predictions which … were made even by Russian
specialists, financiers and economists have not come true.”
RUSSIA – Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the St.
Petersburg International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, June 17, 2022
Khachaturian, who himself is an economist, said the Russian authorities’
economic policies have reversed a depreciation of the Russian ruble, reined in
inflation an enabled the domestic economy to continue its “development.”
“In this sense, I am very happy,” added the largely ceremonial president who was
elected by the Armenian parliament one week after the start of the Russian
invasion in late February.
Armenia, which has very close economic links with Russia, was initially expected
to be hit hard by the barrage of sanctions imposed by the United States, the
European Union and other Western powers. But with the Russian economy proving
more resilient than expected, the authorities in Yerevan now hope that Armenia’s
economic growth will not slow down significantly this year.
Khachaturian also praised Putin’s role in the ceasefire that stopped the 2020
Armenian-Azerbaijani war and follow-up peace efforts.
“I think that the Armenian people appreciate your efforts to resolve the
Nagorno-Karabakh conflict,” he said.
The president went on to note “historical friendship” of Armenia and Russia.
“It’s not me, it’s our ancestors who had decided 200 years ago or earlier that
we must live together and make joint efforts to develop,” he said.
Putin Hopes For ‘Stability’ In Armenia
Russia - Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Armenian counterpart
Vahagn Khachaturian, Saint Petersburg, June 17, 2022.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has described Armenia as Russia’s “strategic
ally” and said Moscow is interested in political stability in the South Caucasus
nation.
“Armenia is not just our partner, it’s our strategic ally, and we value that,”
Putin told Armenian President Vahagn Khachaturian late on Friday during a
meeting held on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic
Forum.
“We understand what is happening today in Armenia and around Armenia,” he said.
“We are intent on developing our partnership relations. We are interested in a
stable situation in the country which will guarantee progressive development.”
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov similarly expressed hope last month that Armenia
will enter a “period of stability” when he comment daily antigovernment protests
launched by the Armenian opposition on May 1. Peskov said the protests aimed at
toppling Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian are the country’s “internal affair.”
In his opening remarks at his first-ever meeting with Putin, Khachaturian said
that Pashinian’s official visit to Russia in April had a “huge impact” on the
political situation in Armenia by ending “some speculation” there.
“But it was clear how you received [Pashinian] here and what he felt when he
toured [the Russian city of] Nizhny Novgorod,” Khachaturian said, seemingly
alluding to speculation that Moscow is encouraging opposition groups to oust
Pashinian.
“I am confident that our further relations will certainly develop. One should
just help the leadership of the country, I mean Armenia, and, if there are some
problems, root out those problems,” added the largely ceremonial head of state,
who was elected by Armenia’s government-controlled parliament earlier this year.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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