The defense team representing Serzh Sargsyan in the recently launched criminal case has cited “gross violations” of the Criminal Procedure Code in the prosecution involving the third president.

In a statement on Tuesday, the lawyers claimed that the inquest authorities acted in violation of Article 202 of the said legal act (The grounds and Procedure of Impleading as the Accused) in charging the Sargsyan with the embezzlement of state funds.

They also reaffirmed the earlier allegations (expressed in the initial phase of the inquest) that the charges in question dealt with functions “stemming from Sargsyan’s official authority”. The advocates cited, particularly, the constitutional immunity clause ruling out any prosecution or accountability measures for actions linked to the former president’s status.

The defense team insists also on the absence of sufficient direct incriminating evidence, noting that the available data “fall short of proving” that the case in question was examined in connection with a criminal offense.  

The lawyers further complain that the inquest body repeatedly rejected their earlier motions for a comprehensive and objective probe, as well as requests for obtaining vital evidence and issuing specific procedural rulings. Summing up its findings, the defense team insists that the criminal case against the third president amounts to a political persecution “behind the pretext of procedural breaches”.

Considering the large public resonance of the case, the lawyers also promise to keep the society up to date of their future actions.

يريفان في 21 يناير/أرمنبريس: قائد المنتخب الوطني الأرميني ولاعب خط وسط روما الإيطالي هنريك مخيتاريان يحتفل اليوم بعيد ميلاده ال31.
بدأ مخيتاريان بدأ مسيرته المهنية من نادي بيونيك- يريفان من ثم انتقل إلى شاختار، أوكرانيا وبروسيا دورتموند، ألمانيا ومانشستر يونايتد من ثمّ أرسنال، انكلترا، تعود حقوق انتقال مخيتياران إلى أرسنال، لكنه في الوقت الحالي على سبيل الإعارة انتقل إلى نادي روما الإيطالي، إنه أفضل هداف للمنتخب الأرميني وأصبح أفضل لاعب في أرمينيا 8 مرات، مخيتاريان سفير اليونيسف للنوايا الحسنة في أرمينيا.
يهنئ طاقم التحرير في وكالة أنباء أرمنبريس مخيتاريان ويتمنى له إنجازات مهنية جديدة.

Farewell to the greatest illusion; these are not human. Mikael Minasyan, former Armenian Ambassador to the Vatican, wrote this on his Facebook page.

“When the ‘love and velvet revolution’ took place, it was the greatest illusion that it was happening to every citizen of our country. That every human being should master the destiny of himself and his country. That any change must be “human-centered”. Consequently, just in those days, they were lavishly saying words about living in dignity, safe, without cameras and corruption and, of course, cheap [natural] gas. And all this would ensure the “economic revolution” with huge investments, budgeted taxes out of the shade, and an unprecedented number of jobs.

What really happened? The cameras did not disappear but increased, the traffic was not regulated but deteriorated; moreover, the draconian point system was introduced, the gas price did not go down, it would soon go up, investments not only stayed the same but declined. Instead of living a decent life, there are daily protests against illogical decisions. Instead of security, we have a horror about what kind of people will make the decisions about the security of our country.

But the collapse of the greatest illusion is not the one listed above. Ironically, the biggest failure of this government is the absolute fiasco of its most popular slogan. If one can characterize the atmosphere of Armenia today, then it is not “love and velvet”. The current public moods filled with hostility, intolerance, and hatred are reminiscent of a mad house. Now people are even ashamed of going to social media. A person becomes ashamed of such manifestations of public relations and networking posts. This government, through the makers of its fakes and paid posts, makes any occurrence, even death, in a public discourse that many sincerely do not know how to respond—to shame, debate, or just curse.

But the problem here is not the transformation of the “love and velvet” atmosphere of hatred. But society is gradually revealing a simple truth. They are not human, in the most popular sense of the word. Never have been and never will be.

They are not human because they are not capable of simple human compassion. They will not offer condolences and will not be ashamed of it.

They are not human because they do not spare the families of the opposition or their own families.

These are not human beings because they only lie. The lie is convincing, big, and so long as there is no need to invent a new lie.

They are not human because they have done everything to get their power, and they are ready to sacrifice anyone for the sake of holding office, walking above holiness and denying all.

These are not human and they are not men. Hiding under the guise of fake users, they attack like hyena, curse, and morally destroy those who disagree with them. Then, without blinking, lie that they do not have fakes.

These are not human; don’t try to work with them. They will make you work, attribute to themselves what you have done, and in the end, they will discredit and prosecute instead of being thankful.

They are not human because they have selected terror – endless criminal cases, inspections, and direct threats – as the only way to communicate with political opponents or rivals.

These are not human. Coming to power through the media, today they speak with open threats with their former colleagues.

They are not human because they spread hostility, draw the most disgusting dividing lines.

These are not really human. And they probably never were. And they will never become one. It is an ordinary failed, ungrateful, corrupt, a group that has become aggressive of its own political successes, which is even unable to spot how it has already dilapidated two-thirds of his former success.

Therefore, they must be removed altogether, jointly, with joint efforts, and quickly before they finally destroy the country and the people. And you need not be overwhelmed by the tales of irreplaceability. Both in April 2018 and after and every day before that there also were born and are being born honorable and humane leaders who are capable of mastering the dreams of the people, the dreams that are so violated today.

P.S. By the way, this government suffering with Facebook madness is monitoring who likes my posts. They warn those people outright, intimidate their parents, and make sure that they don’t have enough likes, to report to the main Facebook madman that no one is following and reading.

A request to all: Don’t like my comments, don’t comment, don’t share. I know you are many. They also know that you are many. And you are increasing day by day. And their fear is increasing day by day. Fear and anxiety. Because they have realized that they will be punished with all the rigor of the law. And they will pay for a complete deception of the whole nation,” he wrote.

The Criminal Court of Appeal denied his attorney’s motion…

YEREVAN. – The Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia today denied the motion of Hovhannes Khudoyan, the lawyer of 5th Channel television company owner Armen Tavadyan.

Speaking to reporters, Khudoyan said Tavadyan was not present at the hearing. “(…) because we anticipated such a judicial act,” he added.

The attorney announced that he was going to appeal this ruling to the Court of Cassation, and later to the European Court. “Will have additional discussion on Tavadyan’s freedom, also with the body conducting the proceedings,” he said.

Armen Tavadyan has been arrested along the lines of the criminal case on Varuzhan Mkrtchyan, a supporter of Kocharyan, who is believed to have proposed a victim of the March 1 case to take back his testimony. Tavadyan was arrested on suspicion in connection with the Criminal Code article on false testimony, false conclusion, bribe or coercion, or incorrect translation.

By Harut Sassounian

After giving a series of interviews to the Turkish press since his election on December 11, 2019, the new Armenian Patriarch of Turkey, Sahak II Mashalyan, responded to his Armenian critics on January 15, 2020, by issuing an official “Clarification” to Turkish-Armenian newspapers.

It is important to point out that the Patriarch’s critics were not simply those who live outside Turkey, unjustly accused of being unaware of the repressive treatment of Istanbul Armenians by the Turkish government. In addition to criticisms from Armenians in Armenia and the Diaspora, the Patriarch was attacked by Armenians living in Turkey as well as the Turkish-Armenian newspaper Agos.

The Patriarch’s interview to the Turkish newspaper Aksham generated the most controversy as he not only distanced Istanbul Armenians from Diaspora Armenians, but also belittled the massive tragedy of the Armenian Genocide. His Beatitude complained that a few of the sentences in his interview with Aksham, drawing the most negative interpretations and exceeding the limits of understanding, reached a campaign of tarnishing his name.

The Patriarch made the excuse that in his 40-minute interview, he “had provided lengthy explanations and details which naturally were not included in the article. The words appearing in the newspaper were filtered from those explanations which were given as answers for a particular question. That style was the choice of the editor. Without considering the questions, when only answers are provided, a change in the meaning takes place, which is placed successively, one after another. In this case, they become unclear expressions and failed statements, which make the transmitted idea meaningless.”

The Patriarch then stated that he had given the following answer to the question about Turkish Armenians: “Armenians of Turkey, unlike Armenians in the Diaspora and Armenia, form a third segment. From the point of view of administration and economy, the Armenian Diaspora has no ties with us; we are self-sufficient.”

When his Beatitude was asked about the irreconcilable attitude of Diaspora Armenians toward Turkey and the reasons for its negative position, he claimed that the given answer does not belong to him, but is a simple sociological correction — familiar to all — expressed as such: ‘One hundred years ago, the people who left these lands with a great tragedy have transmitted the trauma they lived to future generations and realized that for the Armenian identity and its preservation it is beneficial and necessary to form a consciousness of the Genocide. They continued to live for more than a hundred years in a status quo away from Turkey and Turks. But, we — Armenians who have remained in Turkey — continued to share our lives with Turks in these lands and gained the experience of living together. In that sense, we are distinct Armenians in the Armenian world.”

The Patriarch continued: “In such super sensitive subjects, the priority of the people has been that they listen to what they want, and not what the Patriarchs of Turkish Armenians say and under what conditions. The fate of the Armenian Patriarchs of Turkey is like the captain of a ship that is being crushed between two non-melting icebergs. In that circumstance, it is not always possible to secure harmony and errors appear to occur according to one of the sides. Sahak Patriarch too, like his predecessors, has tried to give answers regarding Armenian issues that are satisfactory to all sides. It is never acceptable to any of the sides to take a rejectionist and disregarding position. Each person must first understand correctly, what in reality has been expressed in the uttered words and then criticize.”

Some in the Diaspora may agree with the Patriarch’s words, emphasizing the dire conditions that he and the Turkish community are in. Any Armenian who is familiar with those repressive conditions can be somewhat sympathetic to the Patriarch’s situation.

Our intent was never to urge the Patriarch to antagonize the authorities in Turkey. After all, he is responsible for the safety of his community. All we ask from the Patriarch is to be cautious in his words, not to alienate his followers in Turkey and not insult the memory of 1.5 million Armenian martyrs by engaging in outright denialism. Whenever possible, the Patriarch should avoid giving interviews to the Turkish press. He should appoint a press spokesman who is capable of avoiding difficult and sensitive questions, particularly on political issues. If the spokesman makes a mistake, it is less consequential than if the Patriarch himself makes a mistake. Spokesmen can be fired, but the Patriarch’s position is life-long.

Finally, it is unacceptable for the Patriarch to blame the Turkish newspaper for allegedly misinterpreting his words. First of all, we do not know what exactly the Patriarch told the Turkish newspaper and if it was really misinterpreted. For example, in his above “Clarification,” the Patriarch claims that he had used the word “Genocide” in his interview with the Turkish newspaper. This is not credible!

Secondly, the Patriarch is someone who is born and raised in Istanbul. He knows the Turkish media well. He should have known that the Turkish press often distorts the words of those they interview. Therefore, giving an interview to the Turkish press and then complaining that his words were distorted is not sincere. The Patriarch should have known that in advance. Complaining about Turkish media distortions after the interview is published is foolish!

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has written a letter to the European Parliament in which he states that the EU will cut pre-accession aid to Turkey by 75 percent, Deutsche Welle reports. The cut is a response to Turkey’s invasion of Syria and its illegal gas drilling off Cyprus’ coast.

It will receive just €185m for strengthening democracy and rule of law and rural development, the source said.

It’s the first time the two are attending the same event since the teenager famously stared down Trump at the UN last year. The annual jamboree is taking place against the backdrop of Australia’s worst ever bushfires.

Teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg is returning to the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the 2020 World Economic Forum with a strong and clear message: put an end to the fossil fuel “madness.”

Thunberg’s missive is aimed at, among others, US President Donald Trump, who in the past has mocked the Swedish environmental campaigner, saying she has an “anger management problem.” Trump, who is among the most prominent climate change sceptics, is returning to Davos after giving it a miss in 2019 due to a government shutdown.

It’s the first time Trump and Thunberg would be present at the same event since last year’s United Nations climate change summit in New York, where the teenager could be seen staring down the US president as the two briefly crossed paths.

Later, Thunberg — named Time magazine’s Person of the Year 2019 — told the BBC that she “wouldn’t have wasted [her] time” talking to Trump about the climate crisis at the UN event.

“Honestly, I don’t think I would have said anything because obviously he’s not listening to scientists and experts, so why would he listen to me,” she said.

‘State of emergency’

Thunberg, who famously told Davos participants last year that “our house is on fire,” has, however, found support among the organizers of the World Economic Forum, including its 81-year-old founder Klaus Schwab, who said the world is facing “a state of emergency.”

“We do not want to reach the tipping point of irreversibility on climate change,” Schwab told reporters on Tuesday. “We do not want the next generations to inherit a world, which becomes ever more hostile and ever less habitable — just think of the wildfires in Australia,” he said.

An annual risks survey published by the WEF on Wednesday put climate and other environmental threats ahead of risks posed by geopolitical tensions and cyberattacks. It’s the first time that the survey found the top five long-term risks were all environmental, from extreme weather events to businesses and governments failing to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Stakeholder capitalism

Sustainability is the main theme at this year’s Davos meeting, taking place at a time the world is grappling with global warming becoming worse because of growing divisions among nations and businesses on how to tackle it.

The meeting, which will see over 50 heads of state and government, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, descend on the Alpine resort, seeks to give concrete meaning to “stakeholder capitalism” — a concept that businesses should serve the interests of all society rather than simply their shareholders.

“Business has now to fully embrace stakeholder capitalism, which means not only maximizing profits, but use their capabilities and resources in cooperation with governments and civil society to address the key issues of this decade,” Schwab said. “They have to actively contribute to a more cohesive and sustainable world.”

Davos 2020 by the numbers

• About 3,000 participants from nearly 120 countries. One in four participants is a woman
• 53 heads of state and government
• Nearly 1,700 business leaders, including CEOs from 8 of the 10 most valuable companies in the world
• Over 350 sessions and workshops
• 88% of the cars used by the WEF are electric or hybrid

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/donald-trump-greta-thunberg-world-economic-forum-davos-climate-change/a-52036950

Armenian Greco-Roman wrestler Artur Aleksanyan (97 kg) defeated his Azerbaijani opponent in the final of Grand Prix de France Henri Deglane in the French town of Nice to win the champion’s title.

A four-time European, three-time world and Olympic champion, Aleksanyan beat Orkhan Nuriyev of Azerbaijan in the final bout, claiming four consecutive victories, the National Olympic Committee reported.

Meanwhile, two other Armenian wrestlers Rudik Mkrtchyan (55 kg) and Karapet Chalyan (77kg), took the second spot in their respective weight classes, whereas Gevorg Gharibyan (60 kg), Slavik Galstyan (67 kg), Malkhas Amoyan (72 kg) and Ruben Gharibyan (82 kg) finished third in the tournament.