2018 October 24

Anti-Corruption Daily

by ar_david_hh

All the accused are innocent until proven guilty by the court of law. Currency in Armenian Drams unless specified otherwise.

Parliament is voting for a new Prime Minister today. Nikol Pashinyan is the only candidate. He is answering questions...

Pashinyan says everyone should be prepared to see the results of March 1st murder investigations, and that all perpetrators will be brought to justice http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146930

... says the criminal enterprise within the prison system is ending. Talks about how the old authorities purposely deprived the inmates of basic necessities, so they could pressure them to bring outside money to buy the expensive items that they were supposed to receive for free. Says illegal activities such as gambling is still being practiced by some, but it will end.

He talks about having a written evidence of an unknown Parliament MP being involved in a massive corruption scheme. The legal circles are preparing the final documents. The MP will be arrested once it’s finished. Hints that the person might be a diplomat, so they’re clearing up few details with a foreign nation which is making the process longer than it should be. Says this will be the biggest corruption bust in the history of our Republic, and that it’ll lead to exposure of many other criminals https://youtu.be/hwa5Lky1C88?t=154

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http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146930

Talks about Amulsar and Alaverdi mines, Sevan, and economic growth created by gambling https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9ZIOqzZbGA

He criticizes HHK for sabotaging the Electoral Code vote. Says even the old system won’t help them remain in power. Says the new system is meant to help the opposition, and that HHK should have been in favor of it (reminder: new vote is on Oct29) http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146935

BHK’s Gevorg Petrosyan is concerned about the rumors of an upcoming LGBT conference and a march. Says it’s a danger to the traditional family. http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146959

Pashinyan responds saying he is unaware and will need more information. Says he supports marriage as between man and woman. Tells a story about his latest trip to France, where he asked for a coffee and the waiter turned out to be a man from Armenia. Pashinyan asked him if he wants to return home after the revolution, but the waiter said no, because he is gay and doesn’t find it comfortable living there. Pashinyan continues, says we have to accept that there are all kinds of people living in this world. In Soviet Union, they used to jail gays. Before that, they would be hanged. Says this subject is a headache for his administration (he has been accused of attempting to legalize gay marriage by HHK members in past). Either stance on the topic will make people either mad at him for not defending gay rights, or for damaging traditions family. He says we need to figure out what to do hypothetically , should we collect gays and kick them out, smash with tanks, or just accept that they live with us in any country. The decision should be Constitutional, says the acting PM. http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146975

The Parliament has voted against Nikol Pashinyan for PM. There will be a second vote. If the vote fails again, there will be Parliamentary elections. That was the plan. http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146954

HHK Rosanna Muradyan submits her resignation as an MP. She was one of 6 HHK members who went against the party lines and voted in favor of the Electoral Reform http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146911

More details from the upcoming mass amnesty (separate from traffic ticket amnesty). Those with 3 years or less jail time will have to meet this criteria: received suspended sentences or had it pending, aren’t serving time for crimes that limited others freedoms. For those serving up to 6 years, they have to meet one of the following: be disabled, pregnant, has at least 3 children, has a child less than 3 years of age, 60 or older, prisoners who were juveniles at the time of the sentencing and this is their first crime, if served as soldiers during major wars and this is their first sentence... and lots of other cases that you can read here http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146914

When asked about Vano Siradeghyan’s possible return to Armenia, Pashinyan says from personal experience that the life of an inmate is better than of a fugitive http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146969

More updates from the car servicing companies that avoided taxes. They’ve repaid AMD 371mln so far http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146957

... 100mln of which was paid by a ex-HHK MP Mher Sedrakyan’s son http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146973

The government will invest AMD 300mln in Armat engineering lab. There are 290 groups across the country, where 5300 students learn robotics and engineering http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146974

The former student council of Brusov University, which was voted out by students after it was discovered that they were illegally recruiting students to HHK (read Oct15 post), is being accused of using its Facebook page to defame the university as a “comeback”. Yesterday, the page spread fake news about unknown people with knives entering the building, torturing a female student and carving the word “die” on her hand http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146939

[takes a big sip before checking the next article]

There are 1,800 Turkish migrants living in Armenia. That’s 200 more than in Azerbaijan, and 900 more than in Georgia http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/146908

Foreign Ministry: The American helicopters purchased by Azerbaijan in recent times do not have military capabilities. They are for transportation. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/952022.html

Link to original report: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/9r3b3s/anticorruption_oct242018/