Category: 2019

                                        Tuesday, 

Tsarukian Critical Of Criminal Cases Against High Court Chief

        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia -- Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian attends a parliament 
session in Yerevan, .

Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of the main opposition Prosperous Armenia Party 
(BHK), questioned on Tuesday criminal proceedings launched against Hrayr 
Tovmasian, the Constitutional Court chairman increasingly at loggerheads with 
the country’s leadership.

Tsarukian challenged law-enforcement authorities to present evidence of abuses 
allegedly committed by Tovmasian. He condemned them for interrogating the 
latter’s daughters.

“Let them present proof that he had committed some crimes,” Tsarukian told 
reporters. “We all would support punishing him [in that case.] We are not in 
favor of crimes.”

“But as an Armenian, as a family man, seeing a 16-year-old or 18-year-old girl 
summoned for interrogation over some abuses is unacceptable to me,” he said. 
“With their actions, they [investigators] are embarrassing the prime minister. 
If these people want to show something, then they are not fit for their jobs.”

Tovmasian’s daughters as well as father were questioned by the National 
Security Service (NSS). The NSS said it suspected that they had not submitted 
accurate asset declarations to a state body. It said it is also investigating a 
possible misuse of government funds allocated by the Armenian Justice Ministry 
at a time when it was headed by Tovmasian.

Another law-enforcement body, the Special Investigative Committee (SIS), is 
probing a possible “usurpation of power” by Tovmasian. Both inquiries were 
announced two days after the Constitutional Court rejected the Armenian 
parliament’s demands to replace its chairman installed by the country’s former 
leadership.

The BHK refused to back a corresponding parliamentary resolution drafted by 
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc. Tsarukian said on October 2 that 
the bloc has come up with “very weak” arguments in support of its bid to oust 
Tovmasian.

“Let them bring out evidence of [Tovmasian’s] illegitimacy and we will say he 
is not legitimate,” the BHK leader said on Tuesday. He said that so far he has 
seen only “empty talk.”

While criticizing the authorities, Tsarukian stopped short of explicitly 
backing the former ruling HHK party’s claims that the criminal cases against 
Tovmasian are politically motivated.

Pashinian dismissed those claims through a spokesman on Monday. The 
parliamentary leader of his bloc, Lilit Makunts, likewise insisted that 
Tovmasian is not subjected to “political persecution.”

“I hope that law-enforcement bodies are acting within the bounds of powers and 
functions which they are supposed to have, and I hope that they engage [people] 
in the investigations on the basis of legal facts and corroborations,” said 
Makunts.




Armenian Parliament Attack Ringleader Asks For Parole

        • Ruzanna Stepanian

Armenia - A screenshot of TV footage of gunmen opening fire in the Armenian 
parliament on 27 October, 1999.

The jailed man who led a deadly attack on the Armenian parliament in 1999 has 
asked authorities to release him on parole, it emerged on Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Armenia’s Penitentiary Service said Nairi Hunanian, who is 
serving a life sentence, is eligible for parole because of having spent 20 
years in prison.

The official, Nona Navikian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that Hunanian’s 
application is already being considered by a relevant state body. It will 
respond to him within an 80-day period, said Navikian.

An obscure former journalist, Hunanian led an armed group that burst into the 
National Assembly and sprayed it with bullets on October 27, 1999. Then Prime 
Minister Vazgen Sarkisian, parliament speaker Karen Demirchian and six other 
officials were killed in the shooting spree that thrust Armenia’s government 
into turmoil.

Hunanian, who will turn 54 in December, accused the government of corruption 
and misrule and called for regime change as he held dozens of parliament 
deputies and government officials hostage following the killings. He and the 
four other gunmen, including his brother Karen and uncle Vram Galstian, 
surrendered to police after overnight negotiations with then President Robert 
Kocharian. Several other men were also arrested in the following days.

The gunmen were subsequently tried and sentenced to life in prison. Throughout 
the marathon trial Hunanian insisted that he himself had decided to seize the 
parliament and try to topple the government without anybody's orders. But many 
in Armenia still believe that the ringleader and his accomplices had powerful 
sponsors outside the parliament building.




Pashinian Under Fire Over ‘Secret’ Pay Rise

        • Naira Nalbandian

Armenia -- Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian holds a cabinet meeting in Yerevan, 
June 27, 2019.

Opposition leaders denounced Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian on Tuesday for what 
appears to be a confidential decision to effectively double the salaries of 
Armenian government ministers and their deputies.

Citing information provided by various ministries, the Hetq.am investigative 
publication reported on Monday since June the ministers have been paid 1.5 
million drams ($3,200) each per month, which is twice the amount of their 
salaries set by an Armenian law. It said that deputy ministers have likewise 
seen their monthly wages double to just over 1 million drams.

The online publication quoted an Armenian government spokesman as saying that 
the sharp pay rises were “carried out under a secret procedure.” It said that 
Pashinian issued the “secret directive” in July.

Pashinian’s press secretary, Vladimir Karapetian, did not deny the veracity of 
the report when he spoke to RFE/RL’s Armenian service on Tuesday. But he 
declined to comment further.

The salaries of Armenia’s high-ranking state officials were most recently 
officially raised in 2013 through amendments to the law in question. Pashinian, 
then an opposition parliamentarian, strongly opposed the measure. “The ruling 
elite has decided to raise its wages … against the background of poverty, 
emigration and hopelessness,” he complained at the time.

The leaders of the two opposition parties represented in the Armenian 
parliament seized upon the Hetq.am revelation to accuse Pashinian’s government 
of lack of transparency. They also questioned the legality of the lavish pay 
rise.

“I condemn it for the fact that it was done secretly,” said Prosperous Armenia 
Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukian. “What did the people do the [2018] 
revolution for? The people are ready for everything but they want to be 
informed.”

“Public funds belonging to the people cannot be spent through secret procedures 
unless we are talking about spending on defense and national security,” agreed 
Edmon Marukian of the Bright Armenia Party (LHK).

Artur Sakunts, a prominent civic activist, also voiced concern at the 
revelation. “This is incompatible with democratic and accountable governance,” 
he said, adding that the government should apologize to the public and explain 
the salary hike.

Meanwhile, parliamentary leaders of the ruling My Step bloc sought to deflect 
questions about Pashinian’s controversial decision, saying that it is up to the 
government to explain it. But they also stressed that paying the ministers and 
other senior officials decent salaries will contribute to good governance in 
Armenia.

“The wages of employees of state bodies must be raised because often times the 
private sector offers better [financial] conditions to specialists needed by 
the state … and the state loses in this competition,” said My Step’s Alen 
Simonian.

Marukian acknowledged that higher salaries lower “corruption risks” in the 
public sector. The opposition leader added, however, that the government should 
either increase them by amending the law on high-ranking officials’ wages or 
pay those officials bonuses in a transparent manner.

Pashinian’s government has paid hefty bonuses to tax officials as well as the 
employees of other government agencies. Their disclosure by Armenian media 
caused opposition uproar late last year. The head of the State Revenue 
Committee, Davit Ananian, admitted in January that he alone received 14 million 
drams ($29,000) in bonuses during his eight-month tenure.

Pashinian essentially defended those payments, arguing that they also benefited 
ordinary public sector employees. He also complained that the government has 
trouble attracting skilled professionals working for private firms and earning 
higher wages.




Appointment Of Armenian Constitutional Court Head Declared Illegal


Armenia -- Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasian reads out a court 
verdict on an appeal filed by former President Robert Kocharian, September 4, 
2019.

Law-enforcement authorities challenged on Tuesday the legality of Hrayr 
Tovmasian’s appointment in March 2018 as chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional 
Court after bringing coup charges against a former senior official.

The Special Investigative Service (SIS) said that the former Armenian 
parliament elected Tovmasian court chairman as a result of a “usurpation of 
power” by a “group of officials.” It claimed that they broke laws to install 
him just before the entry into force in April 2018 of sweeping constitutional 
amendments.

The amendments introduced a six-year term in office for the head of Armenia’s 
highest court. Tovmasian was picked to run the court under the previous 
constitution which allows him to hold the post until the age of 70. He was 
elected shortly after the resignation of the court’s previous, long-serving 
chairman, Gagik Harutiunian.

In a statement, the SIS claimed that the then deputy chief of the parliament 
staff, Arsen Babayan, illegally backdated Harutiunian’s letter of resignation 
in order to make sure that all legal deadlines for Tovmasian’s swift election 
are met. It said that Babayan, who was arrested on Monday, has been charged 
with forgery and seizure of power. The former official strongly denies the 
accusations, according to his lawyers.

The statement also said that the SIS investigators suspect former parliament 
speaker Ara Babloyan of involvement in the alleged coup. Babloyan was 
interrogated by them earlier in the day.

The SIS stopped short of indicting Tovmasian, who has been under growing 
government pressure to step down. It launched the coup probe on October 17 two 
days after seven of the eight other members of the Constitutional Court 
rejected the government-controlled parliament’s demands to replace their 
chairman.

Former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), with 
which Tovmasian was affiliated until February 2018, says the investigation is 
part of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s continuing efforts to force the high 
court chairman to resign. Pashinian and his political allies deny any political 
motives behind it.

Pashinian charged in July that Tovmasian “privatized” the Constitutional Court 
with the help of the HHK. He implicitly demanded changes in the court’s 
composition.

Tovmasian claimed on October 2 that the current authorities are seeking to oust 
him in order to gain control over the court and be able to make 
unconstitutional decisions. He said he will not bow to the pressure.




Press Review


“Government fans say that everything in Armenia has changed for the better, 
grumblers are sure that nothing has changed, while the government’s opponents 
say things have changed for the worse,” writes “Aravot.” “All three groups are 
wrong. In Armenia two things have changed for the better: the government was 
formed as a result of legitimate elections and it is not corrupt. These two 
standards are so important that one can speak of a phenomenal achievement for 
Armenia. What could have changed faster but has not changed is hypocrisy and 
the ruling team’s obligation to justify everything.”

“Haykakan Zhamanak” dismisses claims about the “political persecution” of 
former government officials and other critics of the current regime. The 
pro-government paper says that law-enforcement authorities are simply trying to 
solve crimes committed in the past. It deplores “terrible psychological 
pressure exerted on the law-enforcement system” by Armenia’s former rulers. 
“This is an overt attempt to paralyze and wreck the state law-enforcement 
system,” it says.

“Zhamanak” comments on the recent sacking of Grigori Hayrapetov, who headed a 
National Security Service (NSS) division in charge of the personal security of 
the country’s top leaders and their family members. It followed the dismissal 
of NSS Director Artur Vanetsian and police chief Valeri Osipian. The paper is 
worried that these sackings could demoralize lower-ranking law-enforcement 
officers and thus undermine the work of the state security apparatus. It says 
they deepened a perceived lack of “predictability” within that system.

(Lilit Harutiunian)

 
Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2019 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.
www.rferl.org

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Zareh Sinanyan and Armenia Assembly of America Delegation in Meeting.jpg
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ASSEMBLY CONTINUES TO RALLY SUPPORT FOR ARMENIAN GENOCIDE RESOLUTION 

WASHINGTON, D.C. – As the Armenian Assembly of America
(Assembly) continues to rally support for the Armenian Genocide Resolution,
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel (D-NY) and Armenian Caucus
Co-Chair Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) stated that they expected consideration of
H.Res. 296, the Armenian Genocide Resolution, to take place next week.

In an interview with NPR, House Foreign
Affairs Committee Chairman Engel noted that in addition to sanctioning Turkey
for its actions in Northern Syria, a bill on the Armenian Genocide was also
under consideration.

"So we're going to have a Turkey
sanctions bill and we're going to have an Armenian Genocide bill. Both of which
I'm sure the Government of Turkey is not happy with, but then again we're not
happy with the Government of Turkey,” Chairman Engel said.

In a Helsinki Commission hearing this
afternoon, Armenian Caucus Co-Chair Pallone also indicated that the Armenian
Genocide resolution was “very likely” to be considered next week.

“I know that might not seem to be the
topic today, but I think it’s also something that needs to be done in order to
talk about the terrible history that Armenians faced over a hundred years ago,”
Pallone stated.

This past week, Representative Anna G.
Eshoo (D-CA) sent a “Dear Colleague” letter urging support of the resolution,
as did Reps. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) calling for its
immediate passage.

H.Res. 296 was introduced this April by
Reps. Schiff and Bilirakis along with Reps. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Peter
King (R-NY), and Jackie Speier (D-CA), and has 112 co-sponsors to date. During
the Assembly’s 2019 National Advocacy Conference last month, Armenian Americans
from across the U.S. met with Members of Congress and urged its adoption.

Congress has also been calling out
President Erdogan for his violence against the Kurds and Christian minorities
in northern Syria this month, and Members have drawn parallels between the
current Turkish government’s actions and the Ottoman Empire’s atrocities
against Armenians and other minority populations in 1915.

Albio Sires (D-NJ) stated: “These
actions are particularly concerning given Turkey’s historical precedent of
eliminating minority groups that it perceives as a threat, as it did during the
Armenian Genocide.”

Rep. Judy Chu (D-CA) said: “100 years
ago, 1.5 million Armenians were slaughtered in what is now Turkey. For decades,
the US has refused to officially acknowledge that first modern genocide out of
fear of alienating Turkey. Clearly, it’s past time we stop worrying about
Turkey’s feelings & pass H.Res. 296.”

“Not only should we have sanctions
against Turkey. It’s also time that we formally recognize the Armenian
genocide,” Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) said on CNN.

“This latest assault on vulnerable
ethnic groups demonstrates the need for Congress to unequivocally affirm the
Armenian Genocide and adopt the resolutions pending in the House and Senate,”
Assembly Executive Director Bryan Ardouny said. “In order to prevent future
genocides, we must not allow Turkey to continue to export its denial of the
genocide and try to erase America's role in helping save the survivors,” he
added.

Established in 1972, the Armenian
Assembly of America is the largest Washington-based nationwide organization
promoting public understanding and awareness of Armenian issues. The Assembly
is a non-partisan, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt membership organization.

###

NR# 2019-063

Available online: https://armenian-assembly.org/2019/10/22/armenian-assembly-continues-to-rally-support-for-armenian-genocide-resolution/