Author: Nyrie Kalashian

ArmInfo. The collapse of the wall of the building of the children's philharmonic society at Arami Str. 23, is symbolic because it was the result of unorganized work.  This opinion is shared by chief architect of Yerevan, Arthur  Meschyan, as quoted by the press service of the Yerevan municipality.

According to the source, the chief architect recalls that over the  past three months, there has only been talk of the need to strengthen  the building, projects have been submitted, which were rejected by  the RA Ministry of Culture. "Thank God that there are no human  victims, the wall can be restored and the old value returned to the  building. This case should be a lesson so that buildings under  construction are erected in such a way that there is no similar  story. – said the chief architect, expressing hope for the earliest  possible decision-making by the Ministry of Culture of the country in  whose jurisdiction the building is located.

Arthur Meschyan assured that a new project will be developed together  with the architect of the Old Yerevan project, and the objects being  built next to the monument will not have a negative impact on him.  The first one, which was developed by the architect of the "Old  Yerevan" project, was rejected by the Ministry of Culture and the  town planning committee as a result of the discussions, since it was  considered dangerous to the integrity of the building. The second and  third projects developed by engineers and specialists of the Ministry  of Emergency Situations also did not receive approval of the  department. Currently, a fourth project has been developed, for which  the investor has declared his readiness to finance it. The building,  built in the 90s of the 18th century, is in the register of protected  monuments of the Ministry of Culture of Armenia, but this status, as  in the case of other architectural monuments, does not save it from  the threat of destruction. The building is conducted by world-famous  children's choir "Little Singers of Armenia".  On the possibility of  building collapse testified and examination of the Ministry of  Emergency Situations.

As parents of students and school staff told the ArmInfo  correspondent, everything began with the construction directly next  to the architectural monument of the next elite building. According  to the teachers, the contractors carrying out construction work  violated all conceivable and inconceivable construction norms, as a  result of which the foundation of the old building began to settle,  and deep cracks formed on the walls.

The project "Old Yerevan" covers about 100,000 square meters of  construction in the center of Yerevan – from Abovyan Street to  Koghbatsi Street, from Arami Street to Buzand Street. According to  the project, it is planned to restore the architectural appearance of  the Armenian capital of the late XIX – early XX centuries. It was  assumed that the project "Old Yerevan" worth $ 150 million was to be  completed in 2010-2011. However, the government entered into an  agreement with Multicontinental distribution only in 2014 due to some  problems. Construction work started only in 2017.

ArmInfo. Armenian Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan appealed to the Constitutional Court, challenging certain provisions of the law "On Amnesty." It is  reported by the press service of the Ombudsman.

According to the source, the examination of complaints addressed to  the Ombudsman showed that there are no regulations in the law "On  Amnesty", which would clearly record the grounds for applying the  amnesty act. The matter, in particular, concerns the jurisdiction of  the judicial authority responsible for execution, when the judicial  act is appealed to a higher authority, but the latter has not yet  decided on the issue of taking the case to court.

"It turns out that both the Appeal Court and the Court of Cassation  are not able to apply amnesty and release a person from punishment.  Therefore, it turns out that in the absence of a final judicial act,  a person accused of committing the same crime in one of the cases can  be completely exempted from punishment and in another case, as a  result of the amnesty, the term of punishment may be reduced, "the  statement stresses.

In connection with these facts, Tatoyan appealed to the  Constitutional Court of Armenia, noting that the problems mentioned  are a violation of general equality and violate the prohibition on  discrimination before the law. "The findings mentioned in the  statement are reinforced by an analysis of international standards,"  the statement reads.