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Armenia Special Investigation Service chief: Ex-President Serzh Sargsyan will be questioned

August 16, 2018 by administrator

Third President Serzh Sargsyan will be questioned in connection with the events that occurred in Yerevan, in March 2008.

Sasun Khachatryan, Chief of the Special Investigation Service (SIS) of Armenia, on Thursday told about the aforesaid to reporters.

“It has been said numerous times that all those who are associated with the case will be questioned,” Khachatryan said, “including Serzh Sargsyan.”

Asked when this questioning will take place, the SIS chief noted that the investigator shall decide this, and based on the expediency of the ongoing investigation into this case.

As reported earlier, second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan, former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and ex-Defense Minister Mikayel Harutyunyan, and incumbent Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) Secretary General and Armenia’s former Deputy Defense Minister Yuri Khachaturov have been charged within the framework of the criminal case into the tragic events that transpired in capital city Yerevan on March 1 and 2, 2008—and under Article 300.1 Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code; that is, breaching Armenia’s constitutional order, in conspiracy with others.

Since Harutyunyan is not in Armenia, a search for him was declared. On July 27, Khachaturov was released on bail, whereas Kocharyan was remanded in custody for two months by a court decision. But on Monday, the Court of Appeal granted Robert Kocharyan’s legal defenders’ appeal to commute the first-instance court’s decision on remanding their client in custody, and Kocharyan was released from courtroom on the grounds that he has presidential immunity. But sometime thereafter, the Special Investigation Service stated that the decision to release Kocharyan was unlawful, and expressed the hope that the Prosecutor General’s Office will appeal this decision at the Court of Cassation.

On March 1 and 2, 2008, the then authorities used force against the opposition members who were rallying in downtown Yerevan, and against the results of the recent presidential election. Eight demonstrators as well as two servicemen of the internal troops were killed in the clashes. But no one had been brought to account for these deaths, to this day.

CPJ Report: BBC journalist questioned by US border agents, devices searched

February 1, 2017 by administrator

New York, February 1, 2017—Customs and Border Protection officers should respect the rights of journalists to protect confidential information when subjecting international reporters to screening on their arrival to the U.S., the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Ali Hamedani, a reporter for BBC World Service, told CPJ that border agents detained him at Chicago O’Hare airport for over two hours and questioned him when he arrived in the U.S. on January 29 to interview a Persian singer. The journalist, who said he was traveling on a Media I Visa, told CPJ that agents searched his phone and computer and read his Twitter feed.

Hamedani told CPJ that when he traveled to the U.S. on the same visa in November he did not have any issues at the border. The detention of the British-Iranian journalist came two days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning entry to the U.S. for 90 days for individuals from seven countries, including Iran.

Link: https://www.cpj.org/2017/02/bbc-journalist-questioned-by-us-border-agents-devi.php

Yerevan Dozens of opponents questioned, continuing hostage

July 18, 2016 by administrator

Yerevan, July 18, 2016 (AFP) – An armed group linked to an Armenian opponent was still cut off on Monday with five hostages in a police building in Yerevan while dozens of activists of the Armenian opposition were questioned by police the night.

Opponents “were all released after being questioned,” assured a police spokesman told AFP nearly 24 hours after the start of the hostage.

The security services have announced that two hostages had been released the night after several hours of negotiations, five others are still being held.

Sunday morning, a group of armed men linked to an opponent imprisoned Jirair Sefilian, had stormed a police building in Yerevan, killing a policeman, taking several hostages and demanding the resignation of President Serzh Sargsyan.

“The security forces are doing their utmost to enable a peaceful resolution of the situation”, said the security services of the South Caucasus countries in a statement.

Two high-ranking officers, the deputy chief of the National Police Vardan Eguiazarian and deputy police chief of Yerevan Valeri Ossipian are among the hostages.

The attackers also demanding the release of the politician of the opposition, Jirair Sefilian, arrested in June for possession of weapons and accused of wanting to occupy government buildings and telecommunication centers in Yerevan.

A fierce critic of the government, he was previously arrested in 2006 and jailed for 18 months after being called to “overthrow the government by violence.”

He was also briefly arrested for coup attempt in 2015 before being released.

Former military, President Sargsyan was elected in 2008 and his election contested by the opposition, had caused riots that killed 10 people.