2018 October 25

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.

The State Oversight Committee will submit the latest government-funded organization audit findings to the PM on Monday. They have recovered an additional AMD 484mln.

... The Agrarian University audit had earlier revealed embezzlement. The rector has agreed to return AMD 350mln. The State University is also under audit, where the Committee suspect the corruption levels could be higher. The State University says the yet-to-be-published reports are exaggerated. http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/147028

Pashinyan's cabinet has discussed and rejected the HHK amendment to a law that would limit speech by banning "gay propaganda" to children. The Cabinet members said the law wouldn't solve any problems and was unnecessary. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/952163.html

... they also rejected two HHK amendments prohibiting protests on church's territory, saying that the law already says what can and cannot be done on a private/public property. Pashinyan criticizes HHK's mentality of trying to solve problems by "banning things". https://factor.am/93833.html

... the cabinet has de-funded the government-funded organization called Digital Armenia, created by the former PM Karen Karapetyan. This is part of Pashinyan's plan to de-fund several organizations that he deems as unfruitful and a waste of government resources. https://hetq.am/hy/article/97495

HHK is still against the Electoral Code reforms. Will likely vote against, or again sabotage the upcoming vote by not providing enough MPs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ak5efwP6al8

The food inspection commission has inspected a butchery near Գում bazaar and discovered non-sanitary conditions and horse meat. More details later... http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/147075

Trump's national security adviser John Bolton has visited Azerbaijan and Armenia. He spoke about putting more pressure on Iran. Spoke about Aliyev's and Putin's human rights records. Congratulated Pashinyan with the peaceful transition of power, vowed to support the anti-corruption fight and the improvements in judicial transparency. They also discussed for ways to increase the American investments in Armenia. He hopes that Pashinyan will be able to use his strong political position to make improvements in Artsakh negotiations.

... He discussed the recent Armenian aid package to Syria with president Sarkissian, who reassured that Armenia is not planning a military involvement, but a humanitarian one. Bolton said the US also welcomes and provides humanitarian aid, and that a military involvement by new countries would have been a mistake due to too many sides already fighting in the region (basically he wanted to make sure Armenia isn't planning to attack US allies in Syria). Bolton says the US administration is also considering to compete against Russia as the main arms supplier in the region, so it's possible that US could sell weapons that aren't banned under Order 907. President Trump has no plans to lift the Order 907 ban, at least for now. If lifted, US could sell a broad range of arms to Armenia and Azerbaijan. http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/147031 --- http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/147042 ---- http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/147051

The list of largest taxpayers in Armenia: Zangezur Copper; GazProm Armenia; Grand Tobacco; .... http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/147035

Due to occasional military attacks by Azeri soldiers on the peaceful population of bordering villages, Berqaber's school now has an Israeli-style bomb shelter where 100 people can take shelter after receiving an alarm. The bunker has water, food and other items. https://armenpress.am/arm/news/952238.html

If you live in Yerevan and are looking for a job, the Ministry of Labor has a website that is continuously updated. There are also centers in each district that help with employment. http://www.mlsa.am/?page_id=6770

VIDEO IN RUSSIAN: What's happening in Georgia? A large news network was shut down. After a leaked audio call, the government is accused of forcing a large business to hand over 50% of the shares to government-linked individuals, in exchange for "not having problems". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KntVP1mFP4

Andranik Karapetyan wins gold in youth weightlifting European Championship. This is his third similar title http://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/147058

After 6 rounds, Shant Sargsyan is still leading in the U-16 chess world championship https://armenpress.am/arm/news/952186.html

The latest news from the bomb scare in US, collected from various circles.

Several Democratic politicians and prominent left-wing Trump critics have received packages of what appeared to be bombs. NYC police and EOD experts are now saying the bombs were non-functional, but they were designed to look real, and some of them even had shrapnel and wiring to look functional. One of them contained a troll-ish image of a fake ISIS flag. The powder found with one of the "bombs" was also deemed harmless. Other packages found near a Republican congressman's office and the House of Representatives building have been deemed harmless.

A non-bomb looking package containing a flash drive was sent to NY Governor Andrew Cuomo, containing files about a right wing activist group called Proud Boys. The activists have a record of holding pro-Trump rallies against illegal immigration. Recently, they were in the news after the left wing Antifa group attacked them during a rally. It is unclear whether Proud Boys or the flash drive is related to the bomb scare, or whether someone is attempting to give the activists a bad name.

Most of the package recipients, Hillary Clinton, Eric Holder, Maxine Waters, Robert De Niro, CNN

, have very recently called for uncivil conduct, violence against president Trump, and harassment of his supporters in public areas. It is possible that a Trump supporter has decided to play a sick comeback against prominent Democrats. However, the identity or the real motive of the perpetrator(s) is still unknown. It is suspected that the packages originated from Florida. BRACE YOURSELVES FOR THE NEXT "FLORIDA MAN" NEWS CYCLE!

https://nypost.com/2018/10/25/sender-of-suspicious-packages-could-be-in-florida/ ---- https://www.nationalreview.com/news/cnn-pipe-bomb-white-powder-harmless-law-enforcement-report/ ------ https://twitter.com/thomasbsauer/status/1055145782200987648

Link to original report: https://www.reddit.com/r/armenia/comments/9rdxg5/anticorruption_oct252018/