Monday,
Referendum On Armenian Constitutional Court Scheduled For April 5
• Ruzanna Stepanian
Armenia -- Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian (C) reads out a ruling
on an appeal lodged by former President Robert Kocharian, Yerevan, September 4,
2019.
President Armen Sarkissian has validated the parliament’s controversial decision
hold a referendum on constitutional changes that would dismiss seven of the nine
members of Armenia’s Constitutional Court locked in a bitter dispute with Prime
Minister Nikol Pashinian.
In a weekend decree, Sarkissian scheduled the referendum for April 5 amid
continuing opposition statements challenging the legality of the amendments
drafted by Pashinian’s My Step bloc.
Under the proposed amendments, the court’s chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, and six
other members installed by former Armenian governments would be replaced by
other judges to be confirmed by the current parliament controlled by My Step.
Pashinian again accused them of remaining linked to the “corrupt former regime”
as the National Assembly opted for the referendum on February 6.
Tovmasian has been under particularly strong government pressure to resign in
recent months. He has refused to quit and said the authorities are keen to gain
control over the country’s highest court. Tovmasian is strongly backed by the
former Republican Party of Armenia and other hardline critics of the government.
The ruling bloc’s efforts to install new high court judges through the
constitutional changes have also been strongly criticized by the more moderate
opposition parties represented in the parliament and some legal experts.
Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian (R) and Constitutional Court Chairman
Hrayr Tovmasian shake hands ahead of a 2018 meeting in Yerevan.
Edmon Marukian, the leader of the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK),
insisted that the far-reaching changes sought by Pashinian are unconstitutional
and were passed with serious procedural violations. Marukian said Sarkissian
should have therefore sent the draft amendments to the Constitutional Court for
examination instead.
Both the LHK and the other parliamentary opposition party, Prosperous Armenia
(BHK), say that an Armenian law on referendums also makes the court’s approval
of constitutional changes obligatory.
Vladimir Vartanian, a senior pro-government parliamentarian, countered, however,
that the seven court justices cannot make an “objective” decision on the matter
because at stake is their own future.
In a written “clarification” issued immediately after his decree, Sarkissian’s
office argued that the referendum would have been scheduled even if the head of
state had refused to sign the parliament’s decision. It cited an article of the
Armenian constitution in support of this assertion.
“It has to be noted that by setting nor setting a date for the referendum the
president of the republic does not express his attitude and position on the
essence of the constitutional amendments adopted by the National Assembly … or
the procedures used for making that decision,” said the statement.
Naira Zohrabian, a senior BHK figure, dismissed this explanation on Monday,
accusing Sarkissian of seeking to dodge responsibility for the planned ouster of
the Constitutional Court judges. She said that the president, who has largely
ceremonial powers, effectively sided with Pashinian.
“If you sign [the parliament’s decision] it means that you fully accept the
legitimacy of the process,” Zohrabian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.
Armenia -- President Armen Sarkissian (R) meets with Prime Minister Nikol
Pashinian, Yerevan, February 4, 2020.
The BHK and the LHK may still prevent the holding of the referendum if their
parliament deputies appeal to the Constitutional Court and convince it to
declare the draft amendments unconstitutional.
Under the constitution, such appeals must be signed by at least 27 members of
the 132-seat parliament. The BHK and the LHK control 26 and 17 parliament seats
respectively, putting them in a position to request a court judgment.
The LHK has already indicated its readiness to challenge the proposed
constitutional changes in the court. BHK representatives have made more
ambiguous statements in that regard so far.
“We have not yet discussed [the issue,] so I find it hard to say whether
Prosperous Armenia will join in [the appeal,]” said Zohrabian. The BHK
leadership should formulate its position “in the coming days,” she said.
Zohrabian dismissed suggestions that the party led by businessman Gagik
Tsarukian is wary of antagonizing Pashinian.
The prime minister was quick to hail the presidential decree on the referendum.
In a video address aired on Facebook, he also urged Armenians living abroad to
travel to their home country and vote for the amendments on April 5. Armenian
law bars them from voting outside the country.
To pass, the amendments would have to be backed by the majority of referendum
participants making up at least one-quarter of Armenia’s 2.57 million or so
eligible voters.
Prosecutor Again Dismisses Indictment Against Former Armenian Speaker
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia -- NA Speaker Ara Babloyan, 30Dec2018
An Armenian prosecutor has again dismissed coup charges brought by another
law-enforcement agency against former parliament speaker Ara Babloyan and one of
his former senior aides.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS) indicted Babloyan and Arsen Babayan in
October as part of a criminal inquiry into Hrayr Tovmasian’s appointment in
March 2018 as chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional Court. Babayan was arrested
but freed on bail three weeks later.
The SIS claimed that the former Armenian parliament elected Tovmasian court
chairman as a result of an illegal seizure of the judicial authority by a “group
of officials.” It said that Babloyan illegally accepted and announced the
resignation of Tovmasian’s predecessor, Gagik Harutiunian, before receiving a
relevant letter from him. It said that Babayan, who was the deputy chief of the
parliament staff at the time, backdated the letter to enable Tovmasian to head
the Constitutional Court before the entry into force of sweeping amendments to
the Armenian constitution.
The amendments introduced a six-year term in office for the head of Armenia’s
highest court. Tovmasian, 49, became chief court justice under the previous
constitution which allows him to hold the post until the age of 70.
Both suspects strongly deny the accusations. Babloyan maintains that
Harutiunian’s letter of resignation was dated March 1, 2018 and that he received
and signed it on March 2, 2018, not three days later, as is claimed by the SIS.
The SIS announced on December 13 that it has completed the investigation and
asked prosecutors to endorse the accusations of “usurpation of state authority”
and forgery leveled against the former officials.
The prosecutor overseeing the probe refused to do so and ordered the SIS to
conduct an “additional investigation” for properly evaluating Babloyan’s and
Babayan’s actions. The SIS again sent the case to the prosecutor for approval
last month.
It emerged on Monday that the investigators have been rebuffed for a second
time. Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General said they should revise the
indictment and charge the two former officials with abuse of power, rather than
its usurpation. It said the well-known suspects had created an “illusion” of
Tovmasian’s lawful appointment as Constitutional Court chairman.
The SIS did not immediately react to the prosecutors’ decision which will
further delay Babayan’s and Babloyan’s trial.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian used the high-profile case in his recent verbal
attacks on Tovmasian. He said on January 25 that law-enforcement authorities’
allegations that Tovmasian illegally became chief justice shortly before the
2018 “Velvet Revolution” are “effectively proven and irrefutable.”
Tovmasian deplored that claim, saying that Pashinian violated the presumption of
innocence guaranteed by the Armenian constitution.
Iranian Company ‘Interested’ In Armenian Chemical Giant
• Sargis Harutyunyan
Armenia -- Nairit chemical plant, undated.
The Armenian government confirmed on Monday that an Iranian company sanctioned
by the United States is exploring the possibility of taking over and
reactivating Armenia’s largest chemical plant that has stood idle for the last
ten years.
The Yerevan-based Nairit plant employed several thousand people in Soviet times.
It struggled to remain afloat after the breakup of the Soviet Union, repeatedly
changing foreign owners and operators in murky deals overseen by successive
Armenian governments.
Nairit had around 2,300 workers when it stopped manufacturing synthetic rubber,
its main product, in March 2010. It currently employs only 250 people mostly
tasked with guarding its waste disposal and other facilities.
Varag Siserian, a senior aide to Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian, said that
senior executives of Iran’s Tabriz Petrochemical Company expressed an interest
reactivating the sprawling plant when they met with government officials in
Yerevan on January 30.
Siserian said the company plans to conduct a feasibility study for that purpose
by the end of next month. “After the study we will be ready to discuss possible
variants and formats of cooperation,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian service in a
written statement.
According to Economy Minister Tigran Khachatrian, the government is open to
investment projects that would “contain guarantees of long-term stability” at
Nairit. “I can’t give details,” he said when asked about Tabriz Petrochemical
Company’s interest in the former chemical giant.
Khachatrian also would not be drawn on the amount of capital investments needed
for restarting manufacturing operations there.
Siserian noted that the planned feasibility study could be followed by a
financial audit of Nairit.
Nairit was declared bankrupt by a court in Yerevan in 2016 because of its
failure to pay electricity bills totaling 1.24 billion drams ($2.6 million). It
currently owes a total of $262 million to 300 other firms and individuals.
Tabriz Petrochemical Company was among Iranian entities which the United States
blacklisted in 2018 as part of its renewed economic sanctions against Iran.
“We have no information about the Iranian company being under U.S. sanctions,”
Siserian claimed in this regard.
Arrested Official Denies Taking Bribes
• Marine Khachatrian
Armenia -- Vahagn Vermishian, head of the Urban Development Committee, speaks at
a news conference in Yerevan, July 1, 2019.
Vahagn Vermishian, the arrested head of the Armenian government’s Urban
Development Committee, denies bribery charges leveled against him, his lawyer
said on Monday.
The National Security Service (NSS) arrested Vermishian and two other
individuals on February 5 hours after searching his office. One of those
suspects, John Farkhoyan, is a former senior law-enforcment official. He was
released on bail at the weekend.
In a February 5 statement, the NSS said Vermishian has admitted receiving five
bribes, worth between 1 million drams ($2,100) and 2.5 million drams each, from
private construction firms that were given privileged treatment by various
government bodies in return. It said that the kickbacks were channeled into an
architectural firm which the official had set up and registered in a friend’s
name.
Contradicting the NSS claim, Vermishian’s lawyer, Mushegh Arakelian, said his
client denies taking the alleged bribes. “In essence, the version of events
published in the media has nothing to do with him,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian
service.
Arakelian declined to comment further, saying that he will make a more detailed
statement soon.
The categoric denial did not prevent a court in Yerevan from remanding
Vermishian in pre-trial custody on Monday.
Vermishian, who has headed the government agency since March 2019, is the third
senior member of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s government prosecuted on
corruption charges. The two other suspects worked as deputy ministers of
education and health.
Speaking at a February 6 cabinet meeting, Pashinian potrayed Vermishian’s arrest
as further proof of his commitment to eradicating corruption in Armenia.
The high-profile arrest came nearly four months after Sarhat Petrosian, the
prominent head of Armenia’s Cadaster Committee, resigned in protest against
government policies on urban development. Petrosian hit out at Vermishian and
the previous head of the Urban Development Committee, Avetik Eloyan, after
tendering his resignation.
In particular, Petrosian claimed that Eloyan, who now works as an adviser to
Deputy Prime Minister Tigran Avinian, has used his position to win lucrative
contracts for an architectural firm registered in his brother’s name in May
2019. Avinian and Vermishian dismissed those claims at the time.
Petrosian on Monday criticized the authorities for not prosecuting Eloyan as
well. “So double standards are still part of our reality, and while Vermishian
can be indicted, another official, who found himself in virtually the same
situation, cannot,” he wrote on Facebook.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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