Wednesday,
Self-Confessed Felons May Avoid Jail In Armenia
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia -- A prison in the Amavir province, Novemer 1, 2019.
The Armenian parliament approved late on Tuesday a controversial government bill
that will allow law-enforcement authorities not to press charges against
individuals confessing to murders and other serious crimes.
The bill denounced by opposition lawmakers involves amendments to the Criminal
Code stipulating that suspects could avoid prosecution in “exceptional” cases
where they cooperate with investigators, admit committing “serious or
particularly serious crimes” and agree to compensate for the damage caused by
them.
Presenting the bill to the National Assembly, Justice Minister Grigor Minasian
said it is primarily aimed at reducing the workload of law-enforcement agencies
as well as courts. He claimed that they are too busy at the moment.
Deputies from the main opposition Hayastan alliance rejected the official
rationale for the proposed extrajudicial clemency which they believe will
effective give judicial powers to Armenia’s security apparatus.
“This clearly contradicts the fundamental principles of criminal justice,” one
of them, Artsvik Minasian (no relation to the justice minister), said.
He argued that the bill is also opposed by Armenia’s Interior Ministry, National
Security Service and Supreme Judicial Council.
The bill is understood to have been originally drafted by another
law-enforcement body, the Investigative Committee. It is headed by Argishti
Kyaramian, one of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s trusted lieutenants.
Armenia’s national bar association, the Chamber of Advocates, voiced strong
objections to the proposed amendments late last month. It said that giving
prosecutors and investigators “uncontrolled” discretionary powers to pardon
felons “could not only create an atmosphere of impunity but also carry
corruption risks.” It warned of “very serious damage” to the fight against crime.
The law-enforcement authorities have reported considerable annual increases in
Armenia’s crime rate since the 2018 “velvet revolution” that brought Pashinian
to power. Critics claim that the country is not as safe as it used to be because
its current government is more incompetent and softer on crime than the previous
ones.
The authorities registered a total of 37,612 criminal offenses in 2022, up by 24
percent from 2021. According to them, “serious and particularly serious crimes”
accounted for about 16 percent of the total. This included 58 premeditated
murders.
Armenia, Azerbaijan Hold More Talks On Border Delimitation
Armenia - A view of an area in Armenia's Syunik province bordering the Lachin
district, May 14, 2021. (Photo by the Armenian Human Rights Defender's Office)
Senior Armenian and Azerbaijani officials held on Wednesday another round of
direct negotiations on delimiting the Armenian-Azerbaijani border amid fresh
fighting reported from some of its sections.
At least one Azerbaijani and two Armenian soldiers were wounded in border
skirmishes that reportedly broke out on Tuesday evening and continued the
following day. The two sides blamed each other for the ceasefire violations
reported by them from border areas separating Armenia’s southeastern Syunik
province from Azerbaijan’s Lachin district.
The fighting continued as Armenian and Azerbaijani government commissions on
border demarcation and delimitation held a joint session at another section of
the heavily militarized frontier located hundreds of kilometers northwest of the
Syunik-Lachin section.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry said that the commissions headed by deputy prime
ministers of the two South Caucasus states “continued discussing delimitation
issues and addressed a number of organizational and procedural issues.” It gave
no other details.
Deputy Prime Minister Mher Grigorian proposed the joint meeting to his
Azerbaijani counterpart Shahin Mustafayev last month following increased
tensions along the border. Grigorian’s office said it should discuss “current
contentious issues that are causing tension on the border.”
The border demarcation was on the agenda of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s
June 1 meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev held in Moldova’s capital
Chisinau. Pashinian suggested right after those talks that Baku is open to
accepting an Armenian proposal to use 1975 Soviet maps as a basis for delimiting
the long border.
The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry denied that, however. It emphasized that
Azerbaijan has demarcated its borders with other neighboring states “on the
basis of analyses and examination of legally binding documents, rather than any
specially chosen map.”
Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan acknowledged on June 5 that Yerevan
and Baku continue to disagree on the key parameters of delimiting their border.
This is one of the stumbling blocks in their ongoing talks on a bilateral peace
treaty. Aliyev and Pashinian are due to meet again later this month.
Pashinian and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the peace process
in a phone call on Tuesday. Blinken tweeted afterwards that he reiterated his
“strong support for ongoing efforts to secure peace with Azerbaijan.”
U.S., EU Insist On Reopening Of Lachin Corridor
Armenia - EU parliamentarians and monitors visit a section of the Armenian-Azeri
border adjacent to Lachin corridor, June 21, 2023.
The United States and the European Union renewed their calls for the immediate
lifting of Azerbaijan’s blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh on Wednesday one day after
Baku again banned medical evacuations from the Armenian-populated region.
Azerbaijan’s state border guard service said that it imposed the ban because
individuals escorted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) back
to Karabakh from Armenia tried last week to “smuggle” cigarettes, mobile phone
screens, gasoline and other items. The ICRC had transported hundreds of Karabakh
patients to Armenian hospitals since Baku blocked last December commercial
traffic through the Lachin corridor.
“The United States is deeply concerned about Azerbaijan's continued closure of
the Lachin corridor,” the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan said in a statement to
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
“Yesterday’s halting of humanitarian traffic exacerbates a worsening
humanitarian situation and undermines efforts to establish confidence in the
peace process. Free and open transit through the Lachin corridor must be
restored immediately,” added the statement.
The EU’s foreign policy spokeswoman, Nabila Massrali, similarly urged Azerbaijan
to “ensure that ICRC can continue its operations and prevent a potential
humanitarian crisis” in Karabakh.
“The EU strongly supports the crucial role of the ICRC in the region, and
reiterates its call for Azerbaijan to ensure the unrestricted movement of people
and goods via the Lachin corridor,” said Massrali.
A view of the Azerbaijani checkpoint set up in the Lachin corridor, June 23,
2023.
The U.S., the EU as well as Russia have repeatedly made such statements during
the Azerbaijani blockade. Baku has dismissed them and denied blocking supplies
of food, medicine and other essential items that are now running out in Karabakh.
The Azerbaijani side further tightened the blockade on June 15, banning Russian
peacekeepers from shipping limited amounts of such items to Karabakh. It has
also been blocking Armenia’s electricity and gas supplies to the region.
The Armenian Foreign Ministry warned on Wednesday that Karabakh’s ethnic
Armenian population is now “facing a real danger of starvation.” It accused Baku
of trying to create “conditions incompatible with life” for the Karabakh
Armenians.
In a statement, the ministry also urged the international community to “use all
available tools” to ensure Azerbaijan’s compliance with a decision made by the
International Court of Justice in February. The UN court ordered Baku to “take
all measures at its disposal to ensure unimpeded movement of persons, vehicles,
and cargo along the Lachin Corridor in both directions.”
Armenia Sees Continued Surge In Trade With Russia
RUSSIA -- An Armenian truck passes through the newly expanded Russian checkpoint
at the Upper Lars border crossing with Georgia, June 21, 2023.
Economy Minister Vahan Kerobian predicted on Wednesday a continued sharp
increase in Armenia’s trade with Russia resulting in large measure from the
Western economic sanctions against Moscow.
Russian-Armenian trade doubled last year and in the first five months of this
year as the South Caucasus country took advantage of the barrage of sanctions
imposed on its main trading partner following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
This, coupled with other cash inflows from Russia, is the main reason why the
Armenian economy grew by over 12 percent in 2022.
“Last year, our trade turnover with Russia reached more than $5 billion and we
have been seeing its doubling,” Kerobian told the TASS news agency as he
attended a trade exhibition in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg. He said that
the rapid growth will likely moderate to “50-60 percent” by the end of 2023.
Armenian government data shows that the trade with Russia totaled $2.5 billion
in January-May 2023, compared with about $1.2 billion with the European Union.
The unprecedented upward trend is primarily driven by Armenian exports to Russia
that tripled in 2022 and January-May 2023. Goods manufactured in third countries
and re-exported by Armenian firms are thought to have accounted for most of that
gain. They include consumer electronics as well as other hi-tech goods and
components which Western powers say could be used by the Russian defense
industry.
The Armenian government has faced in recent months strong pressure from the
United States and the EU to curb the re-export of these items. It announced in
late May that Armenian exporters will now need government permission to deliver
microchips, transformers, video cameras, antennas and other electronic equipment
to Russia.
James O’Brien, the sanctions coordinator at the U.S. State Department, visited
Yerevan late last month to discuss the issue with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian
and other Armenian officials. According to the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, he
“expressed appreciation for Armenia’s continued commitment to upholding U.S.
sanctions.”
Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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