2018 July 26

Anti-Corruption Daily

Anti-Corruption 7/26/2018: 1) Robert Kocharyan charged with March 1st events, court is deliberating whether to arrest him for now 2) National Archive employees charged with bribery after demanding fees for forms that are free 3) A school director and another mayor charged w... (MORE BELOW) 🍿
by ar_david_hh

Disclaimer: All the accused are innocent until proven guilty by the court of law, even if they may sound as being guilty. Currency in Armenian Drams ֏ unless specified otherwise.

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Former president Robert Kocharyan is officially charged with illegally colluding with other state officials to break the Constitutional order on March/1/2008, when the police were instructed to attack peaceful protesters, followed by 10 people (including one policeman) being killed during riots later that day. The former defense minister is also wanted by the police regarding this case https://www.azatutyun.am/a/29392588.html ---- http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/142398

Kocharyan came to give a testimony as a witness, but upon finding out that he is a suspect, he refused to give a testimony www.aysor.am/am/news/2018/07/26/կպայքարեմ-Քոչարյան/1447043

Robert Kocharyan denies the guilt in March 1st events, says it's a political persecution. Claims it's a direct assault on the army when high ranking officials (perhaps referring to former defense minister) are being charged with the crime www.aysor.am/am/news/2018/07/26/Քոչարյան-վենդետա/1447026 ------ www.aysor.am/am/news/2018/07/26/այս-ի՞նչ-ենք-անում-քոչարյան/1447033

Context: Presidential elections took place on 2008. According to official results, Levon Ter-Petrosyan lost to Serj Sargsyan. The outgoing president was Robert Kocharyan. There were widespread reports and evidence of electoral fraud. In the polling stations where the fraud was prevented, Ter-Petrosyan was declared winner. This caused Petrosyan, Pashinyan and the crowd to protest and shut down the Yerevan center for several days. Police was used to illegally disperse peaceful protests sleeping in tents during an early morning hour, when the law prohibited such activity by the police. Protesters gathered at a different place. Several cars were burned by violent protesters. Opposition claims it was done by government agitators, but there is no evidence of that. A policeman was assaulted and badly beaten, before being rescued by other protesters. Later, according to evidence on March 1st documentary by A1Plus (or another opposition outlet), military was sent towards the city before president Kocharyan had even declared a state of emergency. The existence of soldiers and equipment are documented. It is against RA law to use army for politics. On the night of March 1st, protesters barricaded behind a bus and threw rocks and sticks towards the riot police. The military police (or other) group of masked men are recorded on the video shooting at protesters with live bullets https://youtu.be/RHhKq-0zKXg?t=118

The rioters were not only far away and didn't pose a direct threat to them, but also didn't use anything other than sticks and rocks. This is why the public calls the March 1st shootings as "murder". The police says one rioter shot at them with a gun, but no material evidence of that has been uncovered. According to the documentary and their evidence, one of the police officers who was killed, died because his own grenade exploded while on his body. The autopsy practitioners failed to keep the chain of custody of the clothing, and evidence was lost proving that the explosion could not have been caused by a protester throwing a grenade at the police. This story is disputed by the police which says protesters did that. A video also shows how the police shoots a "sheremukha" gas can directly at a protester, killing him. It is against the law to shoot these directly at the crowd. Another officer is seen running over rioters with his car killing one of them, although there was a reasonable threat to his life at that moment. In another instance, police are recorded assaulting a protester after placing him under arrest

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j04JVNbBDRw

RA National Archive government-linked organization is under an investigation for giving forms and papers in exchange for a fee, while it should be free for residents. Criminal case is launched for abuse of power and corruption https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941899/

Due to administrative changes in how certain communities are governed, the residents of Arates are cheering the ousting of mayor Hovik Ohanyan. He is being accused of poor management, prohibiting the land from being used by farmers, ignoring infrastructure issues, deforestation, pollution of water resources. One resident calls for NSS (National Security Service) to intervene, https://www.a1plus.am/1634203.html

Acting director of All-Armenia Fund (Hayastan Hamahaykakan) says the former director has returned the stolen funds. Pleads the diaspora to continue to support the 60 ongoing projects https://factor.am/70774.html

Criminal case against the director of Special School N2 in Echmiatsin. She is accused of falsifying documents to receive more public grants from the government. Instructed another official to do the duties of the director, while she herself never went to work but received the salary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fn3Hrl4qaXE

Customs department and IRS claim the importer of the infamous refrigerator https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGj5sT8FKZU had a lengthy record of shady practices, border crossings, passport/citizenship registration abuse which is often done to avoid duties, and large scale imports in past. He was asked to pay the legally required money to import a refrigerator because he reached the limit of free imports. The agitated importer refused to pay, broke his own refrigerator. Information was spread that $100 was asked to file the papers. Chief claims everything is recorded and no one demanded that much money https://www.a1plus.am/1634355.html ------ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40KRFPNeA_g

Surenavan mayor is charged with embezzlement of AMD 1mln. He used residents' identities to register them as recipients of aid, then stole the aid. He is also accused of illegally operating a business without a license http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/142400

Armenian-Russian businessman asks PM Pashinyan to review a case where he alleges Serj's accomplices threatened him for doing a business in Armenia, plotted an assassination. Lots of details in the post. Take it away... https://factor.am/70925.html

Lydian mining company, which is currently being prevented from doing works because of closed roads, is accusing a rival business owner of being behind the organized protests. Publishes footage showing how Zangezur copper factory boss’ chauffeur distributes aid to those closing the road https://www.aysor.am/am/news/2018/07/26/%D4%BC%D5%AB%D5%A4%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%B6/1446967

The judge rules that Gagik Hambaryan's employment termination from Shirak State University was illegal, reinstates him in the position, orders university to pay the lost wages. There was a long dispute between Hambaryan and the director of the university, who was accused of corruption and was ultimately removed by the new Education Ministry. One other person was fired by the director after criticizing him publicly https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941924/

Artsakh tourism grew by 102% YoY for the period. The number of travel agencies and hotels grew. The growth is a result of a new marketing and diversification push. Tourists can participate in more types of fun activities. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941851/

Government will invest AMD 2bln in aiding Green Farmer Inc. to built multiple agricultural gardens equipped with high tech anti-heil systems and other equipment. 150 long term jobs will be created in Ararat province, with 150k salary. Taxes will be reduced for several years. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941866/

Satenkar Inc will also receive temporary tax breaks after agreeing to invest AMD 300mln in a fabric producing factory to create more jobs and better quality product https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941873/

PM Pashinyan says in past, the business auctioning process that issued licensing deals to companies producing clothing for military, wasn’t transparent. In the near future, new auctions will be conducted openly and every company will be invited to offer their best deal to the Ministry of Defense. Local clothing factories will be encouraged to participate https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941874/

Government begins issuing grants to provinces to build infrastructure. AMD 300mln was issued to 84 projects submitted by communities in the first few months of 2018. This is part of 10bln package that the government intends to spend on this project this year. For 2019, PM office offered provinces to submit applications sooner to receive the grants sooner. He also suggested to spend some of the funds on creating economic activity https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941865/ —— https://www.aysor.am/am/news/2018/07/26/%D5%80%D5%A1%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%B6%D6%84%D5%B6%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%B8%D6%82%D5%B4/1446659

Public announcement: You can meet the RA Minister of Diaspora in Glendale on July 30th. The municipality has organized a meeting between him, locals and businesses. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941884/

Margarita Arakelyan becomes European champion in 75KG youth weightlifting competition https://www.a1plus.am/1634359.html

Karen Margaryan becomes European champion in 77KG youth weightlifting competition https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941930/

PM Pashinyan is in Saint Petersburg, Russia. During the meeting with businessmen and politicians, he criticized the previous Armenian administration's actions in the gas contracts. Russia sells gas for $150, yet the citizens pay $300. Pashinyan blames corruption by those who signed the contracts. Vows to defend Armenia's interests in the energy negotiations https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941935/

Nikol Pashayev-oglu encourages Ilham Aliyevyan to also send his son to the army, after his own son joins the RA forces. Suggests that maybe the Azeri military will value soldiers’ lives more and refrain from provocations if Aliyev junior is in the military https://factor.am/70820.html

PM Pashinyan now has his own Jeb! Bush-esque "please clap" moment (weekly cringe nutritional value guaranteed) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yiao7-qwsRo

Education Minister reports that the department receives 10x more letters from people with various questions and concerns, compared to previous year. This catches PM off guard, who had earlier instructed all agencies to read all letters and respond to citizens in a timely manner https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZG51fHsJSg

Wife of an Azeri soldier (contractor) who was murdered after being accused of being an Armenian spy, speaks up. According to her, he went to work (military) and never came back. Two weeks later, the authorities brought his dead body but prohibited her from accessing it because he was being accused of treason. Few months later, the authorities admitted that they had made a mistake. He was one of the 10 individuals who was killed in the process. As a reminder, Azerbaijan has a long history of oppressing any dissident against the ruling regime by labeling victims as “Armenian spies”. Recently, the European Council has condemned systemic human rights violations in Azerbaijan https://armenpress.am/arm/news/941894/

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Link to original report and comments: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/925nhx/anticorruption_7262018_1_robert_kocharyan_charged/