Author: Jabejian Elizabeth

U.S. AMBASSADOR PAYS TWO-DAY VISIT TO REGION OF SHIRAK

NOYAN TAPAN
SEPTEMBER 18, 2009
GYUMRI

GYUMRI, SEPTEMBER 18, NOYAN TAPAN. U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie
Yovanovitch made a short tour of Shirak region on September 17-18. The
purpose of the visit was to learn about the social, economic, and
political problems that are currently faced by the region.

According to the statement of U.S. Ambassy in Armenia, on September
17 the Ambassador visited the South Caucasus Railway Company station
to the west of Gyumri, got acquainted with the operations at the
Bavra checkpoint on the Georgian border and also visited the Ashotsk
Cheese Factory.

On September 18 a discussion was held in Asparez Press Club with
the participation of the Ambassador and NGOs’ representatives. The
Ambassador also visited the structures where USAID-sponsored several
health programs are organized, the Our Lady of Armenia orphanage in
Gyumri and the Gala TV studio.

RA FM TO TAKE PART IN PARLIAMENT HEARING ON PROTOCOL RATIFICATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.09.2009 23:04 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ In response to ARFD faction leader Vahan
Hovhannisyan’s question during parliament’s Q&A session, Armenian
FM Edward Nalbandyan reiterated his willingness to participate in
parliament hearings on Protocol ratification,

Minister stressed that he was familiar with Dashnaktsutyun’s
proposal. "Armenia and Turkey have already conducted talks on
elaborating Protocols, and it would be very strange if American
side makes claims for introducing changes in preliminarily signed
documents. Never take diplomatic talks for wall tennis," Mr. Nalbandyan
stressed.

With regard to MP Shirak Tadedvosyan’s being denied entrance to
Georgia, Minister said that the problem had been discussed during his
recent meeting with Georgian FM, and Georgian currently considers
the problem. "I don’t think any problem with Georgia is impossible
to resolve through negotiations," he stressed.

U.S. GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE $2.3 MILLION ASSISTANCE TO ARMENIA TO SUPPORT JUSTICE SECTOR REFORMS

ARKA
September 16, 2009
Yerevan

YEREVAN, September 16, /ARKA/. U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Marie L.

Yovanovitch and Armenian Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan signed
today two Protocols on the amendment to the Letter of Agreement on
Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement between the Government of the
United States of America and the Government of Armenia.

These are the ninth and tenth amendments to the Letter of Agreement,
and under them the U.S. Government will provide additional assistance
to the Government of Armenia in the amount of $2,286,050 for several
assistance programs.

These funds will support a number of Armenian institutions and
bilateral projects: the forensic laboratory of the National Academy of
Sciences’ National Bureau of Expertises, the Central Bank’s Financial
Monitoring Center, a Resident Legal Adviser from the U.S. Department of
Justice, a legal socialization project carried out by the NGO Project
Harmony, the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative,
assistance for victims of human trafficking, and development of law
enforcement academies in Armenia.

Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan commended the U.S. government
for supporting justice sector reforms in Armenia saying thanks to
this assistance Armenian authorities have improved radically the
operation of some agencies. He said the forensic laboratory of the
National Bureau of20Expertises, established with the U.S. government
assistance conducts 23 types of high level expertise.

Since the signing of the original Letter of Agreement on June 11,
2001, the United States has provided over twelve million dollars of
justice sector assistance to the Government of Armenia through the
Embassy’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Section. M.M.

SHIRAK REGION OF ARMENIA AND ULYANOVSK REGION OF RUSSIA TO DEEPEN BILATERAL COOPERATION

PanARMENIAN.Net
16.09.2009 17:03 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan received
on September 16 the governor of the Ulyanovsk region Sergey Morozov
and his delegation, press service of the government reports.

The prime minister emphasized the necessity to develop partnerships
between different actors in Armenia and Russia.

The governor of the Ulyanovsk region told about agreements to develop
relations with Armenia’s Shirak region, in particular, to promote
cooperation in automobile, agriculture, textile and processing
industries, as well as in construction and mining industries.

He also stressed the importance of cultural and humanitarian ties
between the Shirak and Ulyanovsk regions.

During the meeting the sides discussed also the possibility of training
aviation personnel in Armenian and Russian universities.

ARMENIAN PRESIDENT RECEIVES GOVERNOR OF ULYANOVSK

ARMENPRESS
SEPTEMBER 16, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 16, ARMENPRESS: President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan
received today governor of Russian province of Ulyanovsk Sergey
Morozov. The delegation headed by him arrived in Armenia within the
framework of an established partnership with the Shirak province.

Presidential press service told Armenpress that greeting the guests,
the president said "Russia is Armenia’s strategic ally, and reliable
partner and we are interested in development of our relations in
all directions."

The leader of the country considered the inter-provincial cooperation
as an important element of bilateral relations and noted that "It
is not accidental that I have started a row of visits of Russian
institutions. Such visits have a great potential in respect of
promoting Armenian-Russian economic ties and are serious impetus to
inspire our compatriots and consolidating their ties with Armenia".

President of Armenia particularly underscored the partnership with
the Armenian province of Shirak and pointed out that the development
of the province is a priority for the government.

Noting that it has not been succeeded to completely overcome the
consequences of 1988 disastrous earthquake, Serzh Sargsyan said that
Armenia is thankful to all who stretched the hand of support during
that period and continue doing it now.

Governor Morozov said that the relatives of the pilots who were
rushing to help immediately after the earthquake and crashed also
arrived with him.

Speaking about prospect of partnership, the sides considered it
important to combine the existing economic potential, exchanged
thoughts over possible ways of cooperation, concrete programs involving
different spheres. President Sargsyan considered their implementation
important from the point of view of creation of new jobs and solution
of employment issue in the province.

Sergey Morozov noted that 15,000 Armenians are living in Ulyanovsk and
highly underscored their contribution to the social-economic hing of
cultural life of the province. He said next year they are planning to
build a large Armenian National-Cultural Center. The governor invited
the president to visit Ulyanovsk.

ARMENIAN PHOTOJOURNALIST REJECTS ‘ILLEGAL’ AMNESTY

Tert.am
Sept 16 2009
Armenia

Today, in the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Armenia, Chorord
Ishkhanutyun ("Fourth Authorities") and Aravot ("Morning") papers’
photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan’s case was to be heard.

However, the Court of Appeal made a decision to allow the defence’s
appeal without trial and to accept Deputy General Prosecutor Aram
Tamazyan’s plea, agreeing that amnesty was wrongly granted to
Shamshyan. With that, the judgement of the entire jurisdiction of
the Court of First Instance of Center and Nork-Marash Communities of
Yerevan was reversed, and the decision that Shamsyan must pay a fine
of 350 000 AMD was enforced.

"They forget that, according to his nature, Gagik Shamshyan is one
of those unique and exceptional Armenian citizens who, when the court
decided to release him from paying the penalty, connected with granting
him amnesty, said, ‘You have broken the law’. This was Shamshyan’s
initative, and not the general prosecutor’s, or some other individual,"
noted Shamshyan’s attorney, Hovik Arsenyan.

Speaking with Tert.am, Shamshyan said that what was surprising
for him was when the case was being presented in the appeal court,
overseen by judge Mher Aghramanyan, Shamshyan had told the judge in
the hall outside that "you have no right to grant me amnesty," and at
that time, in Shamshyan’s words, the three judges, Mher Aghramanyan,
Armen Danielyan and Masis Rehanyan, escaped from the hall.

"Their response at the time was, ‘Shamshyan, don’t make a fuss, we
are doing what’s best for you.’ And I told them, I don’t need what’s
best for me. You do your work lawfully, and if the law forbids it,
I won’t get amnesty, don’t do what’s best for me, and they left. And
what is also surprising is that those same three judges, 10-12 days
before granting amnesty, held another court session, and mainted
the Court of First Instance of Center and Nork-Marash Communities of
Yerevan’s verdict. In legal practice, this could be written down in
the Guinness Book of World Records," noted Shamshyan.

The photojournalist also advised that he had written an application to
the General Prosecutor, the Minister of Justice, and the Minister of
the Court of Appeal, presenting facts and requesting that disciplinary
action be taken against the three judges. Shamshyan also noted
that he has presented a complaint to the European Court, so that,
in his words, it will prove that our legal courts "act as if they
were born yesterday."

"I am not going to pay the fine," added Shamshyan.

U.S. AMBASSADOR AND ARMENIA’S PROSECUTOR GENERAL SIGN TWO NEW PROTOCOLS

armradio.am
16.09.2009 18:20

U.S. Ambassador Marie L. Yovanovitch and Armenian Prosecutor General
Aghvan Hovsepyan signed two Protocols on the amendment to the Letter
of Agreement on Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement between the
Government of the United States of America and the Government of
Armenia. These are the ninth and tenth amendments to the Letter of
Agreement, and under them the U.S.

Government will provide additional assistance to the Government of
Armenia in the amount of $2,286,050 for several assistance programs.

These funds will support a number of Armenian institutions and
bilateral projects: the forensic laboratory of the National Academy of
Sciences’ National Bureau of Expertises, the Central Bank’s Financial
Monitoring Center, a Resident Legal Adviser from the U.S. Department of
Justice, a legal socialization project carried out by the NGO Project
Harmony, the American Bar Association’s Rule of Law Initiative,
assistance for victims of human trafficking, and development of law
enforcement academies in Armenia.

Since the signing of the original Letter of Agreement on June 11,
2001, the United States has provided over twelve million dollars of
justice sector assistance to the Government of Armenia through the
Embassy’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Section.

Yerevan to host a rock concert on September 18
16.09.2009 13:40 GMT+04:00

/PanARMENIAN.Net/ On September 18, Yerevan will host a rock concert,
featuring 2 Russian and 2 Armenian bands: `Epidemic’, `Corsica’,
`Nairi’ and `Eve’.

The concert, organized by Yerevan’ Moscow House, will be held at
Charles Aznavour Square.

GURGEN ARSENIAN: REAR SERVICE OF DEFENSE MINISTRY HAD NO RELATION TO MARCH 1 EVENTS

NOYAN TAPAN
SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, NOYAN TAPAN. The working group of the RA
National Assembly’s Ad Hoc Committee on the Inquiry into the March
1-2 Events in Yerevan and their Reasons presented on September 9 the
results of the checks it had conducted the day before at the material
storehouses of the Rear Service of the RA Ministry of Defense.

The purpose of the group was to check the information indicated in the
August 24 report of former members of the Fact-Finding Group Andranik
Kocharian and Seda Sasarian to the effect that on March 1, 2008,
military uniformes were given from the storehouse to 9 high-ranking
officials, including big businessmen. To recap, after providing this
information to the Fact-Finding Group, the Armenian National Congress
had accused the authorities of forming "armed groupings not envisaged
by law" with the aim of organizing provocations on March 1.

Head of the working group, Chairman of the United Labor Party
Gurgen Arsenian said at the sitting that during 4 hours the group
was examining the records regarding the distribution of material
values made in the record books of the material storehouse of the Rear
Service of the RA Defense Ministry not only on March 1, but also in the
preceding and following days, as well as the respective invoices. As a
result, the information presented by the opposition was not confirmed.

"We, the working group, take the responsibility for stating that the
Rear Service of the Ministry of Defense had no relation to March 1
events," G.

Arsenian said.

PARLIAMENT APPROVES TAX PACKAGE IN THE FIRST READING

ARMENPRESS
SEPTEMBER 15, 2009
YEREVAN

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 15, ARMENPRESS: The sixth session of the parliament
kicked off today the agenda of which included more than 110 issues. The
first four-day session includes 80 issues, 12 agreements are presented
for ratification.

Today in the first reading the parliament approved with 73 for, 23
against and one abstained the tax package presented by the government
and discussed at the previous session and criticized by all the
factions. The new package suggests changes in laws "About Tax",
"About Excise Tax", "About Value Added Tax", "Income Tax" and in
legislature on administrative breaches.

Before the voting deputy finance minister Suren Karayan presented the
implemented changes which were done as a result of many discussions.

Particularly the bill clarifies the commitments of the tax
representative: the latter will have a right only during the delivery
of ready-made product to control the physical volume of the product,
the sale price and only documents connected with sale.

"That is to say the tax representative will not enter the production
process, he will not know production secrets and neither production
process. This is the main change over which we have come into
agreement," the deputy minister said.

The package also clarifies in which organizations tax representative
may be appointed: only four cases have been established.