Thursday, June 1, 2023
Armenian Policeman Avoids Prosecution For Assault
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - Police officer iArsen Ghaytmazian.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities have decided not to prosecute a senior
police officer who beat up a teenage waiter at a hotel in the resort town of
Dilijan.
A video circulated by multiple news websites on Thursday shows Arsen
Ghaytmazian, the chief of the Dilijan police department’s investigative unit,
repeatedly punching the 16-year-old waiter, Araz Amirian.
According to Amirian’s lawyer, Sasun Rafaelian, a drunk Ghaytmazian assaulted
his client after being told to pay for a hotel room upfront.
“He refused to pay [upfront,] saying that he will pay up when he wants to,”
Rafaelian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Although the incident occurred on April 10, Armenia’s Investigative Committee
commented on it only after the publication of the scandalous video. The
law-enforcement agency said it has not brought criminal charges against
Ghaytmazian because he has cooperated with its criminal investigation, “fully
regretted” his actions and apologized to the victim. It said a prosecutor
overseeing the probe has approved the decision.
Rafaelian said that he will challenge the decision in court because he believes
it amounts to a cover-up.
Artur Sakunts, a veteran human rights campaigner, also criticized the
investigators for not indicting Ghaytmazian. The officer must also be fired by
the Armenian police, he said.
“The presence of such policemen in the police ranks must be deemed
unacceptable,” added Sakunts.
The Interior Ministry announced, meanwhile, that the officer has been suspended
pending an ongoing internal inquiry conducted by the police.
Incidentally, Interior Minister Vahe Ghazarian was the police chief of Dilijan
when Nikol Pashinian swept to power during the 2018 “velvet revolution.”
Ghazarian, who is reputedly a childhood friend of the Armenian prime minister,
was repeatedly promoted in the following years.
Some Armenian civic groups objected to Ghazarian’s appointment as interior
minister in January, saying that he has resisted police reforms and tolerated
police brutality and corruption.
EU Hosts Another Aliyev-Pashinian Meeting
Moldova - Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, Azerbaijani President Ilham
Aliyev, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and EU
chief Charles Michel meet in Chisinau, June 1, 2023.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev
met on Thursday for the third time in less than three weeks for fresh peace
talks mediated by the European Union.
They reported no concrete agreements following the meeting held on the sidelines
of a European summit in Moldova’s capital Chisinau.
Aliyev and Pashinian were joined by EU chief Charles Michel, French President
Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Michel said they focused on an Armenian-Azerbaijani peace treaty as well as “the
security and rights” of Nagorno-Karabakh’s population, the restoration of
transport links between the two South Caucasus nations and delimitation of their
long border. He did not say whether the Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders
narrowed their differences on these issues.
“This meeting has been a good preparation for the next meeting,” Michel told
reporters after the talks that lasted for about 90 minutes. “It will take place
in Brussels on July 21.”
“It means that we are working hard and we intend to support all the positive
efforts in the direction of normalization of the relations,” he said, adding
that the EU “will do everything” to facilitate the conflict’s resolution.
Michel described the talks as “substantive” on his Twitter page. “Important to
implement commitments,” he wrote.
Pashinian’s office confirmed that he and Aliyev will hold another trilateral
meeting with Michel on July 21.
The three men made progress towards the Armenian-Azerbaijani peace deal at their
last meeting in Brussels held on May 14. In particular, Pashinian confirmed that
Yerevan is ready to recognize Azerbaijani sovereignty over Karabakh through such
an accord.
Aliyev and Pashinian also held talks in Moscow on May 25. The talks hosted by
Russian President Vladimir Putin appeared to focus on the reopening of the
Armenian-Azerbaijani border for commerce and cargo shipments.
Karabakh ‘Deeply Disappointed’ By U.S. Statement
NAGORNO-KARABAKH -- A view of Stepanakert, September 29, 2020
Nagorno-Karabakh’s leadership has criticized the United States for welcoming
“amnesty” offered to it by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev on the condition
of its “surrender” to Baku.
Aliyev again threatened the Karabakh Armenians with military action on Sunday,
warning that they must dissolve their government bodies and unconditionally
accept Azerbaijani rule. “Only then can there be talk of amnesty,” he said.
The U.S. State Department spokesman, Matthew Miller, on Tuesday welcomed
Aliyev’s “remarks on consideration of amnesty.”
The Karabakh foreign ministry said the U.S. reaction caused “deep disappointment
and bewilderment” in Stepanakert and amounted to the endorsement of “Baku’s
unconstructive and bellicose policy.”
“It is inexplicable how one can find any positive element worthy of
encouragement in the Azerbaijani president’s statement, which is totally based
on open blackmail and coercion,” the ministry said in a statement issued on
Wednesday night.
It said Aliyev made clear that he will not engage in an “equal dialogue” with
the authorities in Stepanakert and is only keen to forcibly impose Azerbaijani
rule on them.
Armenia likewise expressed dismay at the U.S. praise of Aliyev’s remarks. The
Foreign Ministry in Yerevan said they “contained clear threats” to the security
of Karabakh’s population and Armenia’s territorial integrity.
Armenian opposition leaders and other critics of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
also denounced the State Department’s perceived pro-Azerbaijani stance. They
said it was made possible by Pashinian’s recognition of Azerbaijani sovereignty
over Karabakh.
“The fact that Washington ignores Azerbaijan's intensifying aggression and
reacts to the covert Azerbaijani blackmail in a positive light is absolutely
unacceptable and fraught with severe consequences,” Tigran Abrahamian, a senior
lawmaker from the opposition Pativ Unem bloc, said on Thursday.
Former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian claimed, for his part, that the State
Department added “another drop” to “humiliations” which he said the Armenians
have endured during Pashinian’s rule.
“One of the world’s most corrupt and authoritarian leaders promises to grant
amnesty to the elected representatives of people who have lived in their
historical homeland for millennia … and have never been part of an independent
Azerbaijan. And the U.S. welcomes that step?” Oskanian wrote on Facebook.
“The United States should not be blamed. There is only one culprit here: the
current authorities of Armenia,” he charged, calling, for the first time, for
Pashinian’s removal from power.
As well as praising Aliyev’s offer of “amnesty” to the Karabakh leaders, the
State Department spokesman also said that “aggressive rhetoric can only
perpetuate the violence of the past.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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