Monday,
Pashinian Discusses Armenian Referendum With Council Of Europe Head
Germany -- Council of Europe Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric and
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian meet in Munich, February 15, 2020.
The Council of Europe’s Secretary General Marija Pejcinovic Buric spoke of
“concerns” about ongoing political developments in Armenia when she met with
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in Munich at the weekend.
The meeting focused on the Armenian government’s judicial reforms and, in
particular, its controversial decision to hold a referendum on replacing most
members of the country’s Constitutional Court.
In his opening remarks at the meeting publicized by his press office, Pashinian
again accused the court of maintaining close ties to the former Armenian
leadership.
“We are in a very, very careful process of demining our democracy, our
judiciary, and I am very glad to have this opportunity to give you some
information about the current processes because recently we decided to have a
referendum connected with the Constitutional Court,” he said.
“Of course, from the Council of Europe side we watch very carefully what is
going on,” responded Pejcinovic Buric. “There are some concerns and I would like
to hear from your side how you see this process developing.”
“For us, it is very important that obligations and standards are followed as we
have other bodies that will be involved in work with Armenia within the
judiciary and the Constitutional Court,” she added in English.
According to a statement by his office, Pashinian then “spoke in detail about
the circumstances of the referendum” slated for April 5. Pejcinovic Buric
“expressed the Council of Europe’s full support for reforms, including in the
judicial field, taking place in Armenia,” said the statement. It did not
elaborate on the concerns mentioned by the head of Europe’s leading human rights
organization.
The Council of Europe issued no statements on the meeting held on the sidelines
of the annual Munich Security Conference.
Armenians are due to vote on April 5 on draft constitutional amendments that
would end the powers of seven of the nine Constitutional Court judges installed
by the country’s former governments.
Pashinian has repeatedly accused the judges -- and chief justice Hrayr Tovmasian
in particular -- of impeding his efforts to make the Armenian judiciary “truly
independent.” Critics claim that he is seeking to gain control over the
country’s highest court.
Opposition lawmakers have denounced the amendments drafted by Pashinian’s My
Step bloc as unconstitutional. They also say that the Armenian authorities
should have consulted with legal experts from the Council of Europe’s Venice
Commission before putting the proposed changes on the referendum.
Earlier this month, the Armenia co-rapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of
the Council of Europe (PACE) urged the authorities to submit the changes to the
Venice Commission for examination “as soon as possible.” A senior Armenian
lawmaker countered that Yerevan is under no legal obligation to seek such
judgment.
Constitutional Referendum Campaign Officially Starts
• Harry Tamrazian
Armenia -- A Constitutional Court hearing in Yerevan, February 11, 2020.
Campaigning officially began in Armenia on Monday for a referendum on
constitutional changes sought by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and denounced by
his political opponents.
The draft amendments to the Armenian constitution call for the dismissal of
seven of the nine members of the Constitutional Court accused by Prime Minister
Nikol Pashinian of being linked to the country’s “corrupt former regime.”
The Armenian parliament controlled by Pashinian’s My Step bloc decided on
February 6 to put them on a referendum after months of tensions with the court
and its chairman, Hrayr Tovmasian, in particular. Tovmasian has resisted strong
government pressure to resign.
My Step has already set up a campaign headquarters for a Yes vote in the
referendum scheduled for April 5. To pass, the amendments drafted by the ruling
bloc have to be backed by a majority of referendum participants making up at
least one-quarter of Armenia’s 2.57 million or so eligible voters.
The National Assembly initiated the vote amid serious procedural violations
alleged by opposition lawmakers. Some of them said the amendments also run
counter to other articles of the constitution. Pashinian’s political allies deny
this.
One of them, Alen Simonian, insisted at the weekend that the proposed
constitutional changes are part of broader government efforts to strengthen
judicial independence in Armenia. He said the authorities want to replace
Tovmasian even though the latter was always ready to “serve” them.
“We want to have the kind of judicial system that may say No to us on some
issues but will be independent,” Simonian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service. “This
judicial system has already proved that it’s not independent.”
Critics say that Pashinian’s team is on the contrary seeking to fill the
Constitutional Court with their loyalists and predetermine its future rulings.
Gevorg Gorgisian, a senior member of the opposition Bright Armenia Party (LHK),
argued that Armenia has far more pressing issues to deal with. “We will be
spending a huge amount of money on this process in order to fire one person,
ignoring the most important issues,” Gorgisian said, singling out security
challenges stemming from the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
LHK leader Edmon Marukian last week described the upcoming referendum as
“completely illegal.”
The former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), which installed Tovmasian
as court chairman in 2018, described the referendum as an unconstitutional
“farce” aimed at “satisfying Pashinian’s dictatorial ambitions.”
“Pashinian came to power and hundreds of thousands people wanted changes not for
Hrayr Tovmasian’s being or not being [in office] … but in order for their lives
to get better,” said HHK spokesman Eduard Sharmazanov.
Sharmazanov reaffirmed the HHK’s pledge not to participate in the unfolding
referendum campaign. He also said that the party led by former President Serzh
Sarkisian will urge supporters to boycott the vote.
The LHK and the other parliamentary opposition force, the Prosperous Armenia
Party (BHK), have similarly decided not to officially campaign for a “No” vote.
The BHK leadership questioned the legality of the referendum on Friday.
Charges Dropped Against Serzh Sarkisian’s Ex-Bodyguard
• Naira Bulghadarian
Armenia - President Serzh Sarkisian (R) and his chief bodyguard Vachagan
Ghazarian (L), Yerevan, April 14, 2012.
Law-enforcement authorities have dropped corruption and tax evasion charges
against the former chief bodyguard of ex-President Serzh Sarkisian nearly four
months after he transferred 2.9 billion drams ($6 million) to the state.
Vachagan Ghazarian was arrested in June 2018 on charges of “illegal enrichment”
and false asset disclosure shortly after the “Velvet Revolution” that toppled
Sarkisian. The charges stemmed from his failure to declare to a state
anti-corruption body more than $2.5 million in cash that was mostly held in his
and his wife’s bank accounts.
The Special Investigative Service (SIS) said at the time that Ghazarian was
obliged to do that in his capacity as deputy chief of a security agency
providing bodyguards to Armenia’s leaders. It also accused him of tax evasion.
Ghazarian, who headed Sarkisian’s security detail for over two decades, was
released from custody in July 2018 but arrested again in November 2018. A
Yerevan court granted him bail one month later after he promised the hefty
payout.
The SIS announced in October 2019 that Ghazarian and his wife Ruzanna Beglarian
have completed the $6 million payment. A spokeswoman for the law-enforcement
agency, Marina Ohanjanian, said on Monday that they thus “fully compensated” the
state for taxes evaded by them.
The SIS cited a much smaller sum when it accused a night club in Yerevan owned
by the couple of tax evasion in 2018.
Armenia - Vachagan Ghazarian empties his bag filled with cash after being
arrested by the National Security Service in Yerevan, 25 June 2018.
Ohanjanian told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that because of the payout Ghazarian
and his wife will not stand trial for tax fraud. Investigators have also cleared
them of illegal enrichment, she said.
According to Ghazarian’s lawyer, Armen Harutiunian, the SIS has acknowledged
that an Armenian law on mandatory asset declarations by senior state officials
does not apply to the once powerful former security official.
Citing a lack of evidence, the SIS also decided last week not to prosecute
Ghazarian for extortion alleged by the night club’s former chief accountant. The
latter claims that she was forced to pay Ghazarian 40 million drams ($84,000)
for financial irregularities blamed on her.
Officers of Armenia’s police and National Security Service (NSS) found $1.1
million and 230,000 euros in cash when they raided Ghazarian’s Yerevan apartment
in June 2018. The NSS said he carried a further $120,000 and 436 million drams
($900,000) in a bag when he was caught outside a commercial bank in Yerevan a
few days later.
Ghazarian claimed afterwards that most of the money found in his home and bank
accounts belongs to his businessman friend living abroad.
In early 2019, the NSS secured an even heftier payout, worth $30 million, from
Serzh Sarkisian’s indicted brother Aleksandr. The money was held in Aleksandr
Sarkisian’s Armenian bank account frozen by the security service following the
2018 revolution.
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
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