Tuesday,
Opposition Party Clarifies Stance On ‘Illegal’ Referendum
• Astghik Bedevian
Armenia -- Opposition leader Edmon Marukian (C) speaks at a news conference in
Yerevan, .
The opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK) on Tuesday again denounced
constitutional changes drafted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s political
team as illegal but said it will not actively urge voters to reject them in an
upcoming referendum.
The draft amendments call for the dismissal of seven of the nine members of
Armenia’s Constitutional Court. The judges -- and the court’s chairman, Hrayr
Tovmasian, in particular -- have been under strong government pressure to resign
in recent months, with Pashinian accusing them of being linked to the “corrupt
former regime.”
Deputies representing the LHK voted against the proposed amendments when
Pashinian’s My Step bloc pushed them through the Armenian parliament last week.
The opposition party’s leader, Edmon Marukian, said they run counter to the
Armenian constitution and were passed with serious procedural violations.
Pro-government lawmakers denied that.
Marukian insisted on Tuesday that the referendum scheduled for April 5 is
“completely illegal.” He said at the same time that the LHK leadership has
decided not to officially campaign for a “No” vote.
“There must not be a ‘No’ camp in the unconstitutional referendum and
unconstitutional process; there must only be a ‘Yes’ camp,” Marukian explained
at a news conference.
“Why? Because the authorities badly need some people to campaign for a ‘No’ vote
so that they can tell those people that they are defending Serzh Sarkisian and
deliver the kind of speeches which everyone is tired of,” he said.
“Let them only campaign for a ‘Yes’ vote, and the people will decide whether or
not to vote ‘Yes.’ But setting up a ‘No’ vote front would mean giving the
authorities a chance to keep generating hatred,” he added.
A senior My Step figure, Alen Simonian dismissed this stance as “absurd.” “If
they call [the process] unconstitutional but are not going to do anything about
that, it means … they just don’t know what they are doing,” he said.
Pashinian urged supporters to vote for the amendments immediately after
President Armen Sarkissian set the referendum date on Sunday. The prime minister
said they would thereby “say yes to the revolution” and “slam the door in
corrupt officials’ face.”
Pashinian has repeatedly accused Tovmasian and the six other Constitutional
Court judges appointed under the former governments of obstructing his efforts
to make the Armenian judiciary “truly independent.”
Critics claim that he is on the contrary keen to gain control over the country’s
highest court. They also point to the authorities’ failure to ask the Council of
Europe’s Venice Commission to examine the draft amendments before putting them
on a referendum.
The LHK and the other parliamentary opposition party, Prosperous Armenia (BHK),
may still prevent the holding of the referendum if their parliament deputies
appeal to the Constitutional Court and convince it to declare the amendments
unconstitutional.
Under the Armenian 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.
Marukian reaffirmed his party’s readiness to challenge the referendum in the
court. BHK leader Gagik Tsarukian indicated on Tuesday, however, that BHK
lawmakers will not back such a move. Some of those lawmakers have also
questioned the legality of the government drive to replace the high court judges.
Armenian Opera Director Reinstated
• Gayane Danielian
Armenia - Constantine Orbelian, the director of the national opera theater
controversially sacked by the government, Yerevan, March 29, 2019.
Constantine Orbelian, an acclaimed Armenian-American conductor and pianist, has
been reinstated as director of Armenia’s national opera theater after winning a
court battle against the government.
Orbelian was appointed as artistic director of the Alexander Spendiarian
National Opera and Ballet Theater in Yerevan in 2016 and became its director
general as well a year later. He is widely credited with breathing a new life
into one of the country’s most important cultural institutions chronically
underfunded by successive post-Soviet governments.
In March 2019, then acting Culture Minister Nazeni Gharibian dismissed Orbelian
as chief executive, saying that he is not legally allowed to combine the two
leadership positions. She also argued that the 63-year-old U.S. citizen is not
fluent in Armenian.
Orbelian rejected the decision as illegal and challenged it in court. Most
actors and musicians of the state-run theater also condemned his dismissal,
demanding that Gharibian be sacked instead.
Dozens of them rallied outside the main government building in Yerevan. Meeting
with their representatives, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian defended the legality
of Orbelian’s dismissal while pledging to address their concerns.
Armenia -- Artists of the nationla opera theater stage a protest action in
support of Constantine Orbelian, 30Mar2019.
In October, a district court in the Armenian capital declared the controversial
sacking null and void. Armenia’s Court of Appeals upheld that ruling on Monday.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Orbelian said the decision means that he can
again perform the duties of director general. He cautioned, though, that his
three-year contract signed with the former Armenian government expires in August
and that he does not know yet whether the current authorities will extend it.
Orbelian is scheduled to meet with Ara Khzmalian, a deputy minister of
education, culture and sports, on Wednesday. He said he will discuss with
Khzmalian the possibility of renewed government funding for the theater.
The San Francisco-born musician complained that for the last two years the
government has not financed performances staged by him in and outside Armenia.
Also, he said, the roof and the ventilation system of the imposing theater
building, one of Yerevan’s main landmarks, need urgent repairs.
Senior Policeman Prosecuted For Torture
Armenia -- The entrance to the Office of the Prosecutor-General, Yerevan.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities have brought criminal charges against a
senior police officer who was seemingly caught on video brutally beating a man
together with three other individuals.
The blurry video was first posted by the NewsMedia.am on its website and widely
circulated by Armenian media in November. It showed four men punching, kicking
and swearing at the victim. One of them then forcibly put a gas mask on his head
while another started hitting his shoe soles with a truncheon.
The Armenian police were quick to launch an internal inquiry into the scandalous
video that caused outrage among viewers and prompted serious concern from the
country’s human rights ombudsman.
A police statement issued afterwards said one of the violent individuals shown
in the footage turned out to be the head of the police department of Chambarak,
a small town in Armenia’s northeastern Gegharkunik province. The officer, Narek
Simonian, was suspended as a result, the statement said, adding that the police
are now trying to identify the other men involved in the violent interrogation.
A separate, criminal investigation was launched by another law-enforcement body,
the Special Investigative Service (SIS).
Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General reported on Monday that the video
depicts the interrogation of a man who was taken to a police station in Yerevan
in November 2008 on suspicion of an attempted burglary. In a statement, it said
that Simonian and several other policemen subjected the man to “inhuman,
degrading and brutal treatment” after he refused to confess to the crime.
According to the statement, Simonian has been charged with serious abuse of
power as part of the ongoing “comprehensive, full and objective investigation.”
Investigators are doing their best to identify all individuals responsible for
the torture, added the prosecutors.
Ill-treatment of criminal suspects has long been commonplace in Armenia, with
law-enforcement officers threatening and beating suspects to extract
confessions. They have rarely been prosecuted for such illegal practices until
now.
Jordan’s King In ‘Historic’ Visit To Armenia
Armenia -- Armenian President Armen Sarkissian (R) and Jordan's King Abdullah
arrive at the presidential palace in Yerevan, .
Jordan’s King Abdullah spoke of similarities between his country and Armenia,
voiced support for closer bilateral ties and praised the centuries-old Armenian
presence in the Middle East during an official visit to Yerevan on Tuesday.
He also called for Armenian support for his position on the status of Jerusalem
after holding separate talks with President Armen Sarkissian and Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian.
Both Armenian leaders described Abdullah’s first-ever visit to their country as
“historic” during the talks that seemed to have focused on ways of boosting
Armenian-Jordanian economic ties. Sarkissian was satisfied with the “wonderful
discussions with His Majesty.”
“I’m very glad that … relations between our countries are reinvigorated and we
have already concrete results,” Pashinian told the Jordanian monarch at the
start of their meeting.
“Our two countries and peoples have carved a niche for themselves in today’s
modern world, all the while remaining true to their identities, their cultures
and faiths,” Abdullah said in a speech delivered at the presidential palace in
Yerevan later in the day. “And Jordan, much like Armenia, has made its human
capital the main driver of its journey towards development. Our countries have
much to gain from cooperating to capitalize on this promising potential.”
“Although this is our first official visit to your beautiful country, we feel we
are among family, and in fact we are family,” he declared.
Armenia -- Jordan's King Abdullah delivers a speech at the presidential palace
in Yerevan, .
Abdullah went on to lavish praise on Jordan’s Armenian community. “Thousands of
Jordanians trace their roots back to Armenia,” he said. “They do honor to both
of our countries and play vital roles in the arts, education, public service,
business and much, much more. And they form the solid bedrock on which our
friendship continues to grow and flourish.”
The community mainly consists of descendants of survivors of the 1915 Armenian
genocide in Ottoman Turkey who had taken refuge in what is now Jordan.
Sarkissian stressed that it was Abdullah’s great-great-grandfather, Emir Hussein
bin Ali of Mecca, who urged Arabs to shelter them.
“I would like to bow to the great memory of your ancestor and your family and to
tell you the thanks from my nation,” the president told Abdullah.
“Our joint history extends far beyond that,” the king said for his part.
“Armenians in the Middle East are part of the oldest Christian community in the
world. They are an integral part of our region’s past … and we look to work with
you to make sure they continue to play such a role in shaping its present and
creating its bright future.”
In that context, Abdullah pointed to the existence of an ancient Armenian
quarter in Jerusalem and his religious custodianship of the city’s Muslim,
Armenian and other Christian worship sites.
“Preserving the city’s identity and its legal status, as well as the historic
status quo in relation to holy sites, Islamic and Christian alike, is going to
be key,” he said. “So we look to Christian leaders and friends like you and
around the world to work with us in safeguarding Jerusalem as a unifying city of
peace.”
Jordan is reportedly concerned about an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan put
forward by the United States. Amman has been particularly sensitive to any
changes of status in Jerusalem after U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to
recognize it as Israel’s capital.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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