Armina Darbinyan Appointed Armenian Assembly Regional Director
YEREVAN (ArmInfo) — Armina Darbinyan has been appointed the new regional director of the Armenian Assembly of America office in Armenia and Karabagh. She replaces Arpi Vardanian. Darbinyan was a former advisor to the director of Hayastan All Armenian Fund. She started her new position on March 1.
22nd Anniversary of Sumgait Marked in NKR
STEPANAKERT (Arminfo) — Events dedicated to the 22nd anniversary of the Sumgait massacre were held in the Nagorno Karabagh Republic.
As a correspondent in Stepanakert reported, the President of Artsakh Bako Sahakyan, accompanied by top officials of the republic, visited the Stepanakert memorial complex and laid flowers to the monument of the innocent victims of the Sumgait events.
Second Film of ‘Ordinary Genocide’ Series Screened
YEREVAN (PanArmenian.Net) — The Armenian Public TV screened the short version of the documentary, “Ordinary Genocide: Sumgait, February, 1988,” on February 28, on the anniversary of the Sumgait pogroms in Azerbaijan. The full-length version will be shown in late March.
According to “Ordinary Genocide” series project coordinator Marina Grigoryan, the first film dedicated to the Baku pogroms of 1990 has been screened in diplomatic missions, universities, research institutions and analytical centers in many countries of the world. The Armenian, Russian, English and French versions of the film have been place online.
“The ‘face’ of Sumgait is so horrible that even today, 22 years later, we don’t dare to speak about the details of the brutalities on the Sumgait streets. We have prepared a film-condemnation. Condemnation of a crime against the humanity committed in Azerbaijan between February 27 and 29, 1988, which has not received a legal and political estimation so far. It was also important to show examples of heroic self defense of Armenians, perished as heroes,” Grigoryan said.
President of Armenia Receives Filmmaker Emir Kusturica
YEREVAN (Arminfo) — President Serge Sargisian received this week the renowned Bosnian Serb filmmaker Emir Kusturica.
As the press service of the president reported, over the meeting Sargisian said he was pleased to welcome Kusturica to the Armenian land. “The historical destinies of our nations are very much similar. Your music and art are very close to us,” Sargisian said. For his part, Kusturica confessed he admires the beauty of Armenia. He said he is happy visiting Armenia, as it will give him an opportunity not only express his friendly feelings but also to enhance friendly relations between the two nations of Armenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. He told the president about his plans and expressed his readiness to take all the efforts necessary to help support the Golden Apricot International Film Festival.
Pashinyan to Spend Three Years in Prison
YEREVAN (PanArmenian.Net) — The Armenian Court of Appeal upheld the verdict of the first court ruling to Haykakan Zhamanak editor-in-chief Nikol Pashinyan but applied amnesty and halved his jail sentence.
Thus, Pashinyan will spend three years in prison, instead of seven. His lawyer Lusine Sahakyan labeled the court ruling as “shameful and illegal.”
Earlier in the year, the first court ruling in Yerevan city court found Pashinyan guilty of organization of public disorder and under Article 225.1 of the RA Criminal Code sentenced him to seven years in prison. At the trial, judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan acquitted Pashinyan on charges brought forth against him for violence against a public official (Article 316.1).
Pashinyan has been the editor-in-chief of Haykakan Zhamanak since 1999. After the March 1-2, 2008 riots, he was charged and considered a criminal by the police. On July 1, 2009 he gave himself up to authorities and was detained. On January 10, he ran for parliament to represent the 10th district of Yerevan but lost.
