Author: Arbi Tashjian

                                        Tuesday, 

Yerevan Court Refuses To Free Kocharian


Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian waves to supporters during his 
trial in Yerevan, .

A district court in Yerevan rejected on Tuesday former President Robert 
Kocharian’s latest demand for his release from prison which followed a 
Constitutional Court ruling on coup charges brought against him.

The Constitutional Court ruled on September 4 that an article of the Armenian 
Code of Procedural Justice used against Kocharian is unconstitutional because 
it does not take account of current and former senior Armenian officials’ legal 
immunity from prosecution.

Kocharian’s lawyers seized upon that ruling to demand that their client is set 
free and cleared of the charges stemming from the 2008 post-election violence 
in Yerevan. A district court judge, Anna Danibekian, received a relevant 
petition from them when she resumed on September 12 Kocharian’s trial suspended 
almost four months ago.

Danibekian announced her decision to reject the petition at the start of the 
latest court hearing in the case. She did not immediately publicize the full 
text of the decision presumably containing her interpretation of the 
Constitutional Court ruling.

Kocharian accused Danibekian of ignoring the ruling when he reacted to her 
decision in the courtroom. His lawyers charged that the decision is the result 
of what they described as strong pressure exerted on the judge by Prime 
Minister Nikol Pashinian and his political allies.

Pashinian on Monday described the Constitutional Court ruling as “illegal,” 
citing dissenting opinions voiced by two members of Armenia’s highest tribunal. 
Also, the parliamentary leaders of his My Step alliance demanded that the court 
replace its chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian.

One of Kocharian’s lawyers, Hayk Alumian, said these statements were a “clear 
message” to Danibekian to the effect that her decision to end the 
ex-president’s prosecution would also be deemed illegal. Another defense 
lawyer, Aram Orbelian, claimed that “various people visited” the judge to warn 
her against ruling in Kocharian’s favor. Orbelian did not elaborate on the 
claim which sparked vehement objections from trial prosecutors.


Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian and three other former officials 
stand trial in Yerevan, .

The judge presiding over the trial read out her decision as hundreds of vocal 
supporters and critics of Kocharian again demonstrated outside the court 
building in Yerevan’s southern Shengavit district. Separated by riot police, 
they shouted insults at each other and chanted slogans in support and against 
the man who ruled Armenia from 1998-2008.

A smaller number of rival demonstrators watched the proceedings in the 
courtroom. Kocharian’s detractors burst into applause when Danibekian refused 
to free the 65-year-old ex-president.

The defense lawyers went on to petition Danibekian to release Kocharian on 
bail. They again argued that the ex-president never attempted to hide from 
justice or obstruct the criminal investigation into the March 2008 bloodshed.

“I’m not kind the kind of person who could flee from anything” Kocharian said, 
for his part. “If I was a fleeing type Azerbaijanis would now be drinking tea 
in Stepanakert,” he added, reminding the judge of his wartime leadership of 
Nagorno-Karabakh.

The prosecutors objected to the bail request. One of them spoke of a “very high 
risk” of Kocharian going into hiding and/or exerting “illegal influence” on the 
case in the event of his release. Another prosecutor argued that 
law-enforcement authorities are continuing to investigate the deaths of eight 
protesters and two police servicemen during the March 1-2, 2008 street clashes 
in Yerevan.

Kocharian declared a state of emergency and ordered troops into the Armenian 
capital during the clashes sparked by a disputed presidential election. The 
prosecution says that this and other orders issued by him to the military were 
illegal, a claim denied by Kocharian as politically motivated.

Also standing trial on charges of “overthrowing the constitutional order” are 
Kocharian’s former chief of staff Armen Gevorgian and retired army Generals 
Seyran Ohanian and Yuri Khachaturov. They too deny the accusations.




Former Security Service Chief Denies Ties To Pashinian Foes

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia -- National Security Service Director Artur Vanetsian at a news 
conference in Yerevan, September 11, 2018.

One day after being relieved of his duties as director of the National Security 
Service (NSS), Artur Vanetsian on Tuesday strongly denied collaborating with 
Armenia’s former leaders and warned them against exploiting his dramatic 
falling out with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.

Vanetsian specifically bristled at suggestions about his secret ties to Mikael 
Minasian, a once influential son-in-law of former President Serzh Sarkisian.

Pashinian was the first to announce on Monday that the NSS is no longer headed 
by Vanetsian “as a result of several discussions” held by the two men. He 
declined to give any reasons for the decision made by “mutual consent.”

Vanetsian indicated, however, that he himself decided to resign because of 
disagreements with the prime minister. In a written statement, he said that the 
latter’s leadership style is not good for Armenia and runs counter to the NSS 
“officer’s honor.”

Pashinian’s press secretary, Vladimir Karapetian, hit out at Vanetsian later on 
Monday, saying that his statement might have been written by “PR offices of 
corrupt persons who have ‘mistakenly’ avoided prosecution.” “We are calling on 
General Vanetsian not to lose the officer’s dignity cited by him,” warned 
Karapetian.

“That text was written by me and edited by my adviser Armen Davtian,” Vanetsian 
told three media outlets on Tuesday. He said it is “simply naïve” to suspect 
links between him and the former ruling regime.

“More specifically, let nobody try to link me with Mikael Minasian because for 
me Mikael Minasian is someone who has yet to answer many questions before 
Armenia’s laws,” Vanetsian went on. “The prime minister said yesterday that an 
investigation is underway. The investigation will establish whether or not 
Mikael Minasian must be brought to justice.”


Vatican - Armenian Ambassador Mikael Minasian (R) speaks at an event during 
President Serzh Sarkisian's visit to Rome, 19Sep2014.

Pashinian revealed on Monday that law-enforcement authorities are investigating 
Minasian’s role in what he described as a highly suspicious privatization of 
“one of Armenia’s strategic facilities.” He declined to elaborate, saying only 
that Sarkisian’s son-in-law should “return to Armenia and answer questions” 
from investigators.

Minasian is thought to have developed extensive business interests in Armenia 
during Sarkisian’s decade-long rule. He reportedly sold off at least some of 
his assets after the Pashinian-led “Velvet Revolution” that toppled his 
father-in-law.

Senior representatives of Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) seized 
upon Vanetsian’s resignation to launch fresh verbal attacks on Pashinian.

Vanetsian responded by warning them against trying to “draw me into their 
games” and “meddle in my current relations with the authorities.” “We know how 
to continue those relations,” he said.

Vanetsian, who remains the chairman of the Football Federation of Armenia, was 
also coy about his political future. “I will not make any comments on engaging 
in politics,” he said. “For now I will concentrate on the development of our 
football.”

Vanetsian, 39, was named to run Armenia’s most powerful security service two 
days after Pashinian became prime minister in May 2018. He was regarded as an 
influential member of Pashinian’s entourage.




Sarkisian’s Son-In-Law Investigated Over Privatization Deal

        • Nane Sahakian
        • Karine Simonian

President Serzh Sargsyan awards a medal to his son-in-law and Armenian 
Ambassador to the Vatican Mikayel Minassian, April 5, 2018.

Mikael Minasian, former President Serzh Sarkisian’s son-in-law and reputed 
confidant, is a suspect in an ongoing criminal investigation into a 2010 
privatization deal which Armenian prosecutors say cost the state millions of 
dollars in losses.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian indicated on Monday that Minasian might be 
indicted in connection with the sale of “one of Armenia’s strategic facilities” 
located in the northern Lori province. Pashinian said he should “return to 
Armenia and answer questions” from investigators. He declined to give any 
details of the investigation.

Sources told RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Tuesday that the facility in question 
is DzoraHEK, a medium-sized hydroelectric plant built in Soviet times. It was 
handed over to the Armenian Defense Ministry in 2001, one year after Sarkisian 
was appointed as defense minister.

In 2010, then President Sarkisian’s government decided to sell the plant to a 
private company, Dzoraget Hydro, for 3.6 billion drams ($7.5 million). Some 
Armenian media outlets, including Pashinian’s “Haykakan Zhamanak” daily, 
suggested at the time that the company belongs to Minasian.

Armenia’s Office of the Prosecutor-General announced in May that a police 
inquiry has found that the sell-off price was set well below DzoraHEK’s market 
value estimated by a government property agency at around 8 billion drams 
($16.8 million). It said that following the privatization public utility 
regulators sharply raised the price of electricity produced at the plant to 
widen its profit margins.

DzoraHEK’s new private owner earned an equivalent of over $29 million in 
revenues from 2011-2018, the law-enforcement agency said in a statement. The 
plant’s privatization thus “inflicted substantial damage on the state’s 
legitimate interests,” it said.

The prosecutors added that they have assigned Armenia’s Special Investigative 
Service (SIS) to continue the inquiry.

“The investigation into the case is in progress and I can’t give other details 
now in the interests of the investigation,” an SIS spokeswoman, Marina 
Ohanjanian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. She would not say whether anyone 
has been charged in connection with the 2010 deal.

Lori’s governor, Andrei Ghukasian, described the hydroelectric facility’s 
privatization as a “serious crime” that “caused the state a great deal of 
damage.” But he said he is not familiar with details of the ongoing probe.

Minasian has not yet publicly commented on the probe or his alleged involvement 
in the deal. It is not clear where he lives at present.

Minasian served as Armenia’s ambassador to the Vatican from 2013 to 2018. He 
was sacked last November six months after the Pashinian-led “Velvet Revolution” 
toppled Sarkisian.

The 41-year-old enjoyed considerable political and economic influence in the 
country throughout Sarkisian’s decade-long rule. He is also thought to have 
developed extensive business interests in various sectors of the Armenian 
economy.

“I don’t want to make statements that could create problems for the [DzoraHEK] 
investigation, but Mikael Minasian was and still is the owner of many 
businesses in Armenia,” Pashinian told a news conference on Monday. “It’s just 
that those assets were registered in the name of a woman whose name won’t tell 
you anything.”

Pashinian claimed that Minasian had abused “state levers” to enrich himself. 
The prime minister complained that the current Armenian authorities have so far 
lacked “legal grounds” to seize his dubiously acquired assets.

Minasian’s father Ara is a renowned doctor who ran a state hospital in Yerevan 
until the Armenian Health Ministry accused him of embezzlement in July 2018. 
Ara Minasian strongly denied the allegations. He apparently fled Armenia before 
being formally charged in November 2018.




Press Review



“Zhoghovurd” says that Artur Vanetsian, the former director of the National 
Security Service (NSS), was one of the most influential members of Armenia’s 
current leadership who had direct access to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. “He 
is the one who made officials in the new Armenia get their act together,” 
writes the paper. “In Armenia’s history there have probably been no precedents 
of officials of this caliber to resign from their post with such emphases. The 
reason for Vanetsian’s resignation is known to Pashinian. They arrived at this 
point by mutual consent.”

“Zhamanak” emphasizes Vanetsian’s statement critical of Pashinian. “In other 
words, he is not just talking about his objections to the course of 
governance,” writes the paper. “In that context he is bringing up the issue of 
‘officer’s honor.’” It says Vanetsian thus raised the bar very high for the 
next head of the NSS who has not yet been named by Pashinian.

“One can always make staff changes but there are two conditions for doing 
that,” writes “Hraparak.” “The departing official must be a failure and the 
incoming one a bit better than their predecessor. And if the head of the 
National Security Service is replaced -- especially at such a complicated time, 
namely on the eve of the Eurasian Economic Union summit [in Yerevan] and the 
prime minister’s visit to the U.S. – then it means that a major conflict within 
the government had brewed up.”

“Aravot” says that Armenians have never been given clear explanations for the 
sackings or resignations of high-ranking state officials. “In Soviet times 
there was a standard explanation: because of health problems,” says the paper. 
“All officials who have resigned since 1991 seem to be physically healthy. As 
for what differences they had with the ruling group and the country’s leader in 
particular, that becomes clear only if the dismissed officials launch a 
political struggle against the authorities.” So one can only speculate about 
the reasons for Vanetsian’s departure, concludes the paper.

(Lilit Harutiunian)


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