Monday, 

Pashinian Vague On Putin Arrest Warrant

        • Anush Mkrtchian

Russia - President Vladimir Putin greets Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian 
during a CIS summit in St. Petersburg, December 26, 2023.


Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian has pointedly declined to guarantee that Russian 
President Vladimir Putin will not be arrested if he visits Armenia after the 
country’s recent accession to the International Criminal Court.

Armenia’s Constitutional Court gave the green light for the ratification last 
March one week after the ICC issued an arrest warrant for Putin over war crimes 
allegedly committed during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Moscow vehemently 
denies the accusations and claims that The Hague tribunal executes orders issued 
by Western governments.

Pashinian’s government pushed the treaty, also known as the Rome Statute, 
through the Armenian parliament in October, adding to its unprecedented tensions 
with Moscow. Russian officials said the “unfriendly” move will cause serious 
damage to Russian-Armenian relations. Still, Putin seemed to downplay the 
development afterwards, saying that he will visit the South Caucasus country 
again in the future.

In a weekend interview with Britain’s Telegraph daily, Pashinian was asked 
whether Putin would be arrested in case of such a trip.

“As regards legal subtleties, I cannot at the moment carry out legal analysis 
because that’s more the lawyers’ job,” he replied vaguely. “As I said, Armenia … 
must remain committed to all of its international commitments, including the 
commitments that it has in the relationship with the Russian Federation and 
international relations.”

Pashinian went on to claim that he is not the one who decides “whom to arrest 
and whom not to arrest” and that Armenian law-enforcement and courts make such 
decisions on their own.

Asked whether he would tell Putin “just don’t come because I can’t promise you 
that you won’t be arrested,” Pashinian said: “I don’t think that Vladimir 
Vladimirovich [Putin] needs my advice.”

Commenting on Pashinian’s remarks, Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said 
on Monday that the Russian leader would need to receive “certain assurances” 
before traveling to Armenia.

“This issue will have to be resolved within the framework of a bilateral 
dialogue, which is what we are intent on,” Peskov told reporters.

Pashinian also told the Telegraph that “quite a few lawyers” believe that 
serving heads of state have immunity from arrest warrants issued even by the 
ICC. Ara Ghazarian, a leading Armenian expert on international law, is not among 
them.

“Armenia and any other country [that has signed the Rome Statute] is legally 
obliged to arrest any person who is wanted by the court,” Ghazarian told 
RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.

The Pashinian government’s stated rationale for accepting the ICC’s jurisdiction 
is to take more legal action against Azerbaijan and prevent further Azerbaijani 
attacks on Armenia.

Armenian opposition politicians counter that Azerbaijan is not a party to the 
Rome Statute and would therefore ignore any pro-Armenian ruling by The Hague 
court. They say the real purpose of ratifying the treaty is to drive another 
wedge between Russia and Armenia and score points in the West.

The United States and the European Union swiftly praised Yerevan for ratifying 
the Rome Statute.




Armenian Judicial Watchdog Accused Of Bullying Judges

        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia - Karen Andreasian, head of the Supreme Judicial Council, chairs an SJC 
hearing in Yerevan, June 29, 2023.


A powerful body overseeing Armenia’s courts faced on Monday fresh accusations of 
suppressing judicial independence after circulating a video that lambastes 
judges presiding over the protracted trials of former senior officials at odds 
with the country’s current leadership.

An association of Armenian judges accused the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) 
dominated by government loyalists of illegally intervening in the judicial 
proceedings.

The video posted on the SJC’s website and its social media accounts at the 
weekend purports to explain the reasons for the “collapse” of the corruption 
trials of former Presidents Robert Kocharian and Serzh Sarkisian as as well as 
three other former officials. It primarily puts the blame on the presiding 
judges.

It also heaps praise on other judges, notably Mnatsakan Martirosian. The latter 
is notorious for jailing many political opponents of the current and former 
Amenian governments. Martirosian took bench in the late 1990s and was promoted 
by the SJC last year to become the chairman of the country’s largest court of 
first instance.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian complained about what he described as the slow 
pace of ongoing high-profile trials during cabinet meeting in November. Karen 
Andreasian, the SJC chairman formerly affiliated with Pashinian’s party, said 
last month that he has told his staffers to shoot a video on “the five most 
famous cases” which would identify “the culprits among law enforcement agencies 
and judges” and be used for disciplinary proceedings against them.

The judicial watchdog is tasked with protecting the courts against outside 
influence. It has wide-ranging powers, including the right to nominate, sanction 
and even fire judges.

Armenia - The Supreme Judicial Council holds a hearing on disciplinary action 
against judges, Yerevan, June 29, 2023.

Armenia’s Union of Judges said that both Andreasian’s televised remarks and the 
resulting video constitute a violation of legal provisions banning any pressure 
on judges and interference in their work.

Arman Tatoyan, a former human rights ombudsman critical of Pashinian’s 
administration, likewise accused the SJC of breaking the law and “discrediting” 
the judiciary on government orders.

“It is obvious that this is also a clear ‘message’ regarding future judicial 
acts in other cases,” he said.

Tatoyan also said that disciplinary proceedings against any of the judges 
attacked in the video would be illegal.

Ever since Andreasian took over the SJC in 2022, the number of such proceedings 
initiated by the Ministry of Justice has increased significantly. Justice 
Minister Grigor Minasian is Andreasian’s reputed friend and former business 
partner.

The SJC controversially dismissed four judges in July alone. One of them, Davit 
Harutiunian, was ousted after saying that the SJC arbitrarily fires his 
colleagues at the behest of a single person.

The video in question was officially shot by the Judicial Department, a body 
acting as the SJC staff. Responding to the criticism, the department insisted 
that it did not overstep its authority and only presented objective facts.

Armenian opposition leaders and some legal experts regularly accuse the 
government of seeking to further curb judicial independence in the country under 
the guise of Western-backed “judicial reforms.” Pashinian’s government denies 
these claims.




Baku Slams EU Monitoring Mission In Armenia

        • Gevorg Stamboltsian

Armenia - European Union monitors patrol Armenia's border with Azerbaijan, 
February 20, 2023.


The Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry summoned the European Union’s ambassador in 
Baku on Monday to denounce a monitoring mission launched by the EU along 
Armenia’s border with Azerbaijan a year ago.

In an ensuing statement, the ministry questioned the impartiality of the mission 
and warned it against causing “damage to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity.”

In particular, it linked EU monitors to a Czech national who was arrested by 
Azerbaijani security services on February 3. Baku claimed that the still 
unidentified man illegally entered the country from Armenia.

The statement also condemned the monitors for escorting “official and unofficial 
European delegations” to border areas during their visits to Armenia. Such 
visits are used for spreading “anti-Azerbaijani propaganda,” it claimed without 
giving details.

French Gendarmerie General William De Meyer was one of the European officials 
who inspected a section of the Armenian-Azerbaijan border earlier this month. 
Azerbaijani state television claimed afterwards that France is helping Armenia 
prepare a military operation against Azerbaijan.

Later on Monday, Baku said that an Azerbaijani border guard deployed on the 
Armenian border was wounded in an Armenian ceasefire violation. The Armenian 
military said it is “investigating” the report.

Azerbaijan as well as Russia have repeatedly criticized the EU monitoring 
mission over the past year. Despite the criticism, the 27-nation bloc decided 
late last year to deploy more observers in Armenia.

Last month, the EU twice warned Azerbaijan against invading Armenia following 
Baku’s renewed demands for Yerevan to open an extraterritorial corridor to the 
Nakhichevan exclave. Its foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said this and 
other statements made by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev earlier in January 
amount to territorial claims to Armenia.

“Any violation of Armenia’s territorial integrity would be unacceptable and will 
have severe consequences for our relations with Azerbaijan,” Borrell warned on 
January 22.




Armenian Speaker’s Sister-In-Law Set Free

        • Nane Sahakian

Armenia - Parliament speaker Alen Simonian poses for a photo with his brother 
Karlen and sister-in-law Ani Gevorgian.


A senior executive of a major software company and her former colleague related 
to parliament speaker Alen Simonian were released from custody on Monday about 
two weeks after being arrested in a corruption investigation openly criticized 
by some Armenian officials.

But the founder and owner of the U.S.-registered company Synergy International 
Systems, Ashot Hovanesian, remained under arrest despite serious concern 
expressed by an association of Armenian tech firms.

Hovanesian and the freed suspects, Lili Mkrian and Ani Gevorgian, were charged 
with helping senior Ministry of Economy officials rig a procurement tender which 
was controversially won by Synergy but invalidated by a court last summer. 
Unlike them, the indicted government officials, including former Deputy Economy 
Minster Ani Ispirian, were swiftly freed or moved to house arrest. Economy 
Minister Vahan Kerobian insisted last week that the accusations of abuse of 
power brought against his subordinates are baseless.

On February 6, about 70 lawmakers representing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s 
Civil Contract party petitioned prosecutors to release the three suspects 
remaining in custody. One of the suspects, Gevorgian, left Synergy last year. 
She is the wife of Simonian’s brother Karlen.

The Office of the Prosecutor-General made a veiled reference to that petition 
when it announced and commented on the release of the young women. It said they 
both have testified about “circumstances of essential importance for the 
criminal proceedings” and are now less likely to engage in “inappropriate 
behavior.”

Hovanesian’s lawyer, Gor Ohanian, said, meanwhile, that he hopes his client will 
be freed on the same grounds. The Synergy boss gave “quite extensive testimony” 
following his arrest, Ohanian said without elaborating.

Armenia’s Union of Advanced Technology Enterprises (UATE) denounced Hovanesian’s 
arrest and demanded his release on February 4. It said that “unfounded” 
detentions of “business representatives and other prominent persons” are turning 
Armenia into a “risky country” for local and foreign tech entrepreneurs.



Reposted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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