Monday, February 23, 2009

Madame Anoush: The trial of infamous Dubai pimp continues

[ 2009/02/23 | 19:01 ]
HETQ society
Ararat Davtyan


The trial of Anoush Martirosyan, an infamous pimp known in Armenia and Dubai for her sex trafficking activities, is continuing in Yerevan Criminal court, Judge Yeva Darbinyan presiding. For years on end Anoush has overseen the transfer, through fraud and deceit, of women of various ages from Armenia to the United Arab Emirates where they have been subject to sexual exploitation. Also implicated in the case are three other women, Sofya Martirosyan, Sonya Gabrielyan (both sisters of Anoush) and Mariam Martikyan. All have been charged with aiding and abetting the “Madame pimp” in her nefarious activities. (See: Madame Anoush: Infamous Pimp in Court Once Again)

During the trial session of February 12, witness K.G testified that at the house of Mariam Martikyan the following exchange took place between Mariam and Milena, an injured party in the case whose named had been changed. “At first Milena refused to go to Dubai arguing that she was scared. But Martikyan told her not to worry about a thing because she would be there to support her and that she would send to see a man who’d take care of all her problems.”

Once arriving in Dubai, Milena was taken under the wing by head pimp Anoush Martirosyan.

35 year-old Milena hails from the town of Kajaran. In 1991 she moved to Yerevan to study, specializing in the book trade. Later on, however, she turned to prostitution. In 2006, through her girlfriend Nora S., she met up with Mariam Martirosyan. Milena finally gave in to the extravagant promises made to her and agreed to ply her trade in that faraway mythic country of Dubai.

Martikyan sends the prostitutes Milena and Nora to Krasnodar where they are met by the brother of Gayaneh Ghaltakhchyan, another infamous Dubai pimp. They leave for Dubai on March 1, 2007.

“We were met at the airport by Gayaneh Ghaltakhchyan and Marieta Mouradyan. They took our passports right then and there. But Mariam Martikyan had told us in Yerevan that we’d keep our passports,” Milena had stated at the precious trial session. Milena also alleges that in Yerevan Martikyan had promised that no one would take the money they made from working. According to the agreement, the girls would only have to return the amounts paid for the visa and travel expenses and pay a $1,000 gratuity to the “boss”.

“Gayaneh took us to her house. The next day Anoush Martirosyan stopped by and said that she was splitting us up and that I’d have to work for her. They wanted 35,000 dirhams from each of us. I thought to myself that this was about $1,000, the amount of the gratuity that Martikyan spoke about. Then I found out that the 35,000 dirhams amounted to much more, about $10,000,” Milena continues and adds, “In essence they sold me to Anoush. I remember Marieta saying that she had no use for us and that she was handing us over to Anoush. Gayaneh would show up every week or ten days to collect the money and Anoush would always complain that work was very slow and that she had no money. But she was lying. According to my calculations, I gave her much more than her 35,000 dirham debt.”

She notes that later on, when she demanded that Gayaneh return her passport, Gayaneh stated that Anoush still owed her 6,000 dirhams and that she wouldn’t return the passport until the debt was paid.

“There were about 4-6 girls with Anoush. She intimidated all of them by calling in “Pochik Ali” (Ponytail Ali). Whenever a new girl was brought to the stable they’d call “Pochik Ali” to make a visit so that they’d recognize his face. If anyone was making problems they’d phone “Pochik Ali”. He’d go find the girl, take her out to the desert, have his way with her, beat her and then take her to the “boss”. With my own eyes I saw what they did to Jemma from Sisian,” recounts Milena. “I just had to hang my head and go to work, thinking that I’d soon pay off my debt so that I could tell them that I was leaving to work for myself. But no matter how much I worked I could never whittle down my debt. I was in tears every day. We slept for a few hours in the afternoon and worked the rest of the day. We were expected to turn 3-4 tricks every day. It wasn’t healthy, either physically or psychologically. Many a time I told Anoush that I wanted out, that I wanted to return. I would cry and beg her but she wouldn’t hear of it.”

After working for Anoush Martirosyan around three months Milena escaped. She says that she went to the local police several times but because she had no visa they neither deported nor arrested her.

In October, 2007, she final got her visa back from Gayaneh Ghaltakhchyan, with the help of her husband. (Milena claims that pimp Gayaneh’s Arab husband had no clue about his wife’s business affairs)

“When I was at last on my own I didn’t work all that much, maybe once or twice a week just to put bread on the table and to pay the rent. One day, I went to a hotel where drinking wasn’t allowed and started downing some beers. I lined up the empty bottles on the window shelf. Then I rang up the police who came and jailed me for two months. On May 4, 2008, I was deported from Dubai.

When Milena was asked by Anoush Martirosyan why she didn’t immediately return to Armenia after getting her passport back if, in fact, she was forced into the sex trade, Melina answered, “Because I had no money. It wasn’t only a question of a visa or plane ticket. I also had to pay a fine because I had stayed in Dubai without any visa for about one year. All this added up to more than a few pennies.”

In October, 2008, when Madame Anoush had already been arrested, Melina received a phone call from Gagik S. (who is involved in the trial as a witness). He asked her how much money it would take for her to withdraw her testimony against Anoush.

“I told him I’d think about it. I reported the incident to the investigator who told me to come up with any figure I wished. Afterwards I told Gagik I wanted to be paid $1,000 and we agreed that Anoush’s sister Sonya would approach me the next day at the “New York” cafe in downtown Yerevan.

As promised, Sonya Gabrielyan met Melina at the appointed rendezvous spot and handed her $1,500, telling her to use the extra $500 to pay off the investigator to delete her previous damning testimony.

“Sonya handed me a piece of paper alleging that I was loaned the money, if anyone asked,” adds Milena. “As soon as she handed me the cash the cops rushed in and took her away.”

As the other defendants in the case, Sonya Gabrielyan proclaims that she is innocent of all charges. Unlike the others however, she is not being detained during the trial. In her case, the court decided all she had to do was to sign a pledge not to abscond from sight.

The trial is expected to continue this week.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

ANCC Challenges Prof. Ataov's Armenian Genocide Denial Campaign

Armenian National Committee of Canada
Comité National Arménien du Canada
130 Albert St., Suite/Bureau 1007
Ottawa, ON
KIP 5G4
Tel./Tél. (613) 235-2622 Fax/Téléc. (613) 238-2622
E-mail/courriel:national.office@anc-canada.com
www.anccanada.org

For Immediate release

Feb 19, 2009
Contact: Roupen Kouyoumjian


Turkish nationalists attempt to curtail Canadians' freedom of speech

Toronto--The Armenian National Committee of Canada's (ANCC) Executive Director Aris Babikian challenged Turkish professor Turkkaya Ataov's attempt to deny the historic reality of the Armenian Genocide during the latter's lecture at the Ryerson University on Feb. 18. Prof. Ataov's presentation was titled "How to come to terms with one's past".

When Babikian tried to correct Prof. Ataov's erroneous statements regarding the Armenian Genocide, and the Turkish professor's accusations that the Western world was racist, anti-Islamic and practiced genocidal policies, many of the Turkish nationalists in the audience tried to silence Babikian. When Babikian insisted on being heard, some of the organizers turned off the microphone and threatened Babikian with forceful removal from the podium.

Babikian reminded the audience that they are living in Canada and not in Turkey and that freedom of speech is one of the most cherished rights of Canadians, specially in academic settings.

After Babikian's condemnation of Turkish nationalists' anti-democratic behavior, the ANCC executive director was allowed to make his statement, challenging Prof. Ataov’s boiler-plate propaganda. Babikian also condemned Prof. Ataov’s use of the "religion card" to justify his accusations against the West. Earlier in his lecture Ataov had accused Western countries of killing five million Muslims in the Balkan and in the Caucasus. Ataov's manner was condescending towards the West and his audience.

Babikian asked Ataov how did he reconcile his statement that only two Armenians were killed on April 24, 1915 with Talaat Pasha’s, Minister of Interior and the main architect of the Armenian Genocide, diary ("Black Book") which stated that 924,158 Armenians had been killed by the Turkish government. Talaat also kept a detailed account of Armenians deported from each city, county, and province.

Babikian also questioned the credibility of the historians Ataov cited as experts on the Armenian Genocide, such as Justin McCarthy, Gunther Lewy, Sanford Show, and Andrew Mango. Babikian then read "British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies'" evaluation of McCarthy’s work as “junk food, junk bonds and now junk history”. Babikian reminded Ataov and the audience with the testimony of 126 Holocaust scholars, International Association of Genocide Scholars, the International Centre for Transitional Justice and hundreds of other scholars and historians who have contradicted Ataov's claims and the Turkish Government's denial of the Armenian Genocide.

When Babikian tried to question some of Ataov answers, Turkish nationalists once again tried to suppress Babikian from speaking. Embarrassed by his compatriots behavior and as a face-saving measure, Ataov invited Babikian to the stage to stand next to him and to continue the discussion. Babikian and Ataov continued to discuss many relevant issues to the Armenian Genocide.

After the event, Dr. Girair Basmadjian, president of the ANCC, said that he “condemned the behavior of the Turkish nationalists and their attempt to intimidate and silence a Canadian, while trying to deny him one of the most basic human rights to freedom of thought which is enshrined in our constitution."

Dr. Basmadjian added: "The modus operandi of these nationalists is indicative and reminiscent of the Turkish government's modus operandi in suppressing freedom of speech and silencing anyone who dares to challenge the official Turkish government narrative of the Armenian Genocide under article 301 of the Turkish penal code." The persecution of award-winning novelist Orhan Pamuk and many other righteous Turks, and the assassination of Turkish-Armenian journalist are eloquent examples of these policies,” said Dr. Basmadjian.

“We also abhor Prof. Ataov’s ‘the West is racist’ statement and his other temper tantrums. Such a statement has no place in our academic and scholarly circles," said Basmadjian. Ataov's attempt to whip up hysteria and to try to put a wedge among Canadians by using religious fervor should be condemned by everyone, he said. "Therefore, we ask Ryerson University to dissociate itself from this lecture which she jointly organized with the Federation of Canadian Turkish Association, apologize to Canadians, condemn Prof. Ataov, and hold accountable the sociology department professor of Turkish background who deceived the university and put Ryerson in such a compromising situation,” said Basmadjian.

*****

The ANCC is the largest and the most influential Canadian-Armenian grassroots political organization. Working in coordination with a network of offices, chapters, and supporters throughout Canada and affiliated organizations around the world, the ANCC actively advances the concerns of the Canadian-Armenian community on a broad range of issues.

Comments on Several Important Articles of Interest to Armenians

2/19/09

By Harut Sassounian
Publisher, The California Courier



In recent days, the international media published so many articles of interest to Armenians that it has become impossible to read them all, let alone comment on them!
Here is a summary of some of the more interesting articles with a brief comment on each:

-- A senior Israeli general retaliated last week against the Turkish Prime Minister's criticism of Israel. Major General Avi Mizrahi urged Erdogan to "first look in the mirror," and reminded him of the Armenian Genocide, repression of the Kurds, and Turkey's occupation of Northern Cyprus. In response, the Turkish Foreign Ministry angrily summoned Israel's Ambassador and handed him a diplomatic note of protest. In addition, a top Turkish official said he was offended by the Israeli General's statement. Ironically, the murder of 1.5 million Armenians did not bother this official, but its mere mention did offend him!

- According to the Turkish "Dogan Haber Agency," Ali Ihsan Ozturk, President of the Teachers' Association of Kayseri and his colleagues, distributed halva (sweets) to passers by in the main square of the town, "for the soul of Hitler." Ozturk said he was doing this in reaction to the Israeli General's criticism of Turkey. It is to be seen whether Israel's leaders will swallow this bitter halva or retaliate with a protest note of their own!

-- As if Prime Minister Erdogan had not angered Israel and American Jews enough, a Turkish prosecutor now has launched an investigation into whether Israel's leaders committed "genocide and crimes against humanity" in Gaza. If charged, these Israeli officials would be arrested if they visit Turkey. Regardless of the legal merits of this case, Turkey should be the last country on earth with the right to accuse anyone else of genocide! What audacity! What hypocrisy! As they say in Turkish: "Hem Suclu; Hem Guclu." (Guilty and Macho)!

-- Zeev Elkin, a member of Israel's Parliament, recently announced that the Knesset would shortly consider recognizing the Armenian Genocide. Israel, after years of officially refusing to recognize the Armenian Genocide in expectation of political-strategic gains from Turkey, could be getting on the right side of this issue.

-- Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Israel has suspended its flights to the Turkish resort town of Antalya, fearing terrorist attacks against its citizens. The Jerusalem Post reported that thousands of Israelis are boycotting Turkey because their "anger is both deep and palpable." Could a ban on selling Israeli arms to Turkey be next?

-- Some American Jewish organizations are finally waking up from their deep moral coma! The American Jewish Committee (AJC) issued a press release on January 29, denouncing "Turkish Prime Minister's shameful outburst at Davos." On February 1, David Harris, Executive Director of AJC, issued an Open Letter to Erdogan, accusing him of using "vicious" and "inflammatory" words to criticize Israel. Harris even dared to remind Erdogan that Turkey "chose to close the border with landlocked Armenia from 1993 to today." Will the AJC now desist from playing the role of designated liar for Turkey on the Armenian Genocide?

-- James Holmes, a former U.S. Ambassador to Ankara and President of the American-Turkish Council (ATC), told Hurriyet newspaper: "The American-Jewish community's support for Turkey's position on the Armenian genocide resolution is gone. They will not expend any political energy in blocking a resolution or a presidential proclamation." Holmes should resign from the ATC rather than lobby for genocide denial for a fistful of dollars!

-- The Jerusalem Post quoted an unnamed official with "a leading American Jewish organization" as saying: "A deterioration in Israel-Turkey relations might prompt his group and others to reconsider" support for Ankara's denial of the Armenian Genocide. In my opinion, some Jewish groups, seeing that the Armenian Genocide might be acknowledged by the Obama administration, are wisely abandoning the sinking ship of Turkish denial and jumping on the winning side before April 24!

-- David Plouffe, former campaign manager for Barack Obama's presidential race, was offered $50,000 by Pres. Ilham Aliyev's despotic regime to lecture in Baku on human rights and democracy and meet with Azerbaijan's leaders. Plouffe was so embarrassed by criticism in the international media that he decided to donate his speaking fee to "groups that advocate democratization in the turbulent post-Soviet states of the region around the Caspian and Caucasus mountain range," according to the Wall Street Journal. One can imagine the contortions on Aliyev's face when he finds out that his money ended up with Azeri opposition groups or Armenians in Artsakh!

-- The Azeri Press Agency (APA) reported last month that the European Union supposedly paid millions of dollars to several prominent Turks to initiate a
petition apologizing for the Armenian Genocide. APA alleged that professors Ahmet Insal, Halil Berktay, Murad Belge; journalist Mehmet Ali Birand, and writer Adalet Agaoglu had received $137,000 each; Prof. Ibrahim Kaboglu, $250,000; journalist Mine Kirikhanat, $90,000; Prof. Atilla Yayla, $575,000; Ertugrul Kurkchu, $1 million; "Mazlumder" group, $100,000; and Etien Mahchupian, Editor of Agos Armenian newspaper in Istanbul, $1.3 million. The Azeri press is even more notorious than Turkey's for distorting the news! These Turks could truly make millions of dollars should they sue the APA for libel!

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Silva Harouonian, Armenian Aid Worker in Iranian Prison

The following letter is from a friend of mine, who reports that Silva Harotonian, a young Armenian woman working as an administrative assistant with an Armenian NGO focused on maternal and child health issues in Iran, was detained last year by Iranian authorities on wrongful -- and unexplained -- charges of conspiring to instigate a revolution. She sits in prison over 8 months later, her case still pending. Please take a moment to visit the site www.freesilva.org to read about the situation, and if you feel so compelled, to sign the petition that her organization will be presenting to the Government of Iran on her behalf.


----------------------------------------

IREX confirms that one of our employees, Silva Harotonian, a 33 year old Iranian citizen who had been living in Armenia, is among those people wrongly detained in Iran. She was arrested on June 26, 2008 and has been in prison since then. She is not a medical specialist and was employed by our office in Yerevan and traveled to Tehran to facilitate an exchange program that would increase cooperation between Iran and the US in regards to maternal and child health issues, benefiting the citizens of both countries on an issue of universal interest.

IREX, a non-governmental, nonprofit organization, has worked on academic and people-to-people exchange programs for over 40 years. IREX has offered exchange programs for professionals from over 50 countries, including many Islamic nations. This program, and our employee, were not part of any effort to work against the Iranian government.

We are pursuing every legal avenue available so that our employee’s case can be reviewed, her innocence confirmed, and she can be released to be with her family as soon as possible. In the meantime, IREX needs your help. We have printed 1,500 flyers that need to be distributed to as many people as possible with the aim of increasing traffic to a web site dedicated to Silva www.freesilva.org. The electronic version is attached. Please post these flyers wherever possible (in your places of employment and at places you frequent often). We also need volunteers to distribute flyers in and around high traffic areas in Yerevan and the regions. If you are interested, please let me know via email. Finally, make sure you visit www.freesilva.org and register.

Please let me know if you have any questions. Otherwise I look forward to hearing from many of you - and thank you in advance for helping secure the release of Silva, a colleague and fellow Armenian.


Sincerely,

Arina Zohrabian
Director/Senior Education Programs Manager
Deputy Regional Director
IREX Armenia
16 Vardanants Street
Yerevan, Armenia 0010
DIR: (374 10) 52 66 49
MOB: (374 91) 43 65 17
TEL: (374 10) 52 66 21, 52 66 23, 52 66 42
E-MAIL: arina@irex.am

Monday, February 16, 2009

Madame Anoush: Infamous Pimp in Court Once Again

[ 2009/02/16 | 19:30 ]
HETQ court
Ararat Davtyan


Four women, three of whom are sisters, appeared before the Yerevan Criminal Court, all charged with the same crime. The main heroine of this criminal trial, presided over by Judge Yeva Darbinyan, is Anoush Martirosyan, the infamous “Madame-pimp” of Dubai. The other three, Sofya Martirosyan, Sonya Gabrielyan (both sisters of Anoush) and Mariam Martikyan, are charged with aiding and abetting the “Madame pimp” in her nefarious activities.

40 year-old Anoush, a high school graduate, has been in custody since October 1, 2008. For years on end Anoush has overseen the transfer, through fraud and deceit, of women of various ages from Armenia to the United Arab Emirates where they have been subject to sexual exploitation.

On December 2, 2004, Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash Court of First Instance found Anoush Martirosyan guilty of violating Article 262 of the RoA Criminal Code (Engaging in the organization of prostitution). As her punishment, she was merely fined 200,000 drams.

In 2004, investigators from the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Aristakes Yeremyan, were sent to Dubai where they conducted numerous interrogations regarding criminal cases involving Armenian pimps. In reality, these investigations were merely for show since many of these pimps voluntarily returned to Armenia where they only received a slap on the wrist by the courts. Afterwards, they returned to their “work”. (At the time, “Hetq” covered the issue in detail in a series of investigative articles entitled “In Desert Nights”)

In essence, a similar deal had been worked out with Anoush Martirosyan since she left the Emirates and returned to Armenia in 2004 for the sole reason of having a court hearing. In addition, during her stay in Yerevan here activities in Dubai were coordinated from Armenia.

The following is an excerpt of the testimony given by 26 year-old Ani (her real name has been changed). “Anoush went to Yerevan for 3-4 months for her trial. Before leaving she brought her sister Sonik over to Dubai. She was the one who collected payment from us and write the obligatory amounts down in the registry book. She’d always be on the phone to Armenia telling Anoush who paid what and how the girls were working.”Ani is one of the three individuals recognized as an injured party in this case. During the first trial session held on February 6 at the Yerevan Criminal Court, Anoush Martirosyan declared that the sentence she received in 2004 covered her crimes in relation to Ani. However, both Ani and her mother, who served as a witness, claim that Ani’s case file wasn’t included in the previous trial.

Ani, who hails from the town of Yeghegnadzor, returned to Armenia from Dubai three months ago. During the trial she related in detail how she wound up in Dubai some six years ago at the age of twenty.

“I had relocated to Yerevan and was living with a girlfriend. I was working in the market in the Bangladesh neighborhood market. Through my girlfriend I made the acquaintance of a woman named Ano. She knew that we didn’t own a home and that we were renting a place in Yeghegnadzor. One day she said that I should go to Dubai and take care of her sister’s kids, that I’d receive a normal salary with which to buy a house She told me that I wouldn’t get anywhere by working in Armenia. I agreed,” recounts Ani.

Afterwards, Ano took Ani to see Sonya Gabrielyan, who arranged for a visa and plane ticket to Moscow. There, Ani was met by a guy called Aper and days later she flew to Dubai with a fake Russian passport.

“I was met there by Anoush and Arayik. He immediately took my Russian and Armenian passports and handed them over to Anoush,” recounts Ani. “At first Anoush treated me well. She took me to her house where there were many other girls. She didn’t say anything that first day but on the second she demanded that I go to the InterCity Hotel and engage in prostitution. I told her that I hadn’t come to Dubai for that and that she should send me back to Armenia.”

In response, Anoush Martirosyan pointed out that she had spent a considerable sum of money to get Ani to Dubai and that there could be no talk of returning until the money was repaid.

“I was forced to work. It was impossible to live under Anoush’s thumb. There were days when she’d beat us and not feed us if we didn’t work. She would line us all up in a row and grab her shoe…It didn’t matter whether I worked well or poorly, she’d always hit me. One day I complained saying that after all the work I was doing she wasn’t giving me any money nor was she sending it back home to Armenia. Upon hearing these words, she rushed me into a taxi, took me back to the house, and proceeded to beat me with an iron bar,” Ani recounts. “After this I fled for the first time. There was one girl from Georgia. She was the only one who didn’t tell Anoush everything. I telephoned her. She picked me up and helped me. She and her girlfriend stitched-up my hand.”

Ani says that after the incident Anoush promised to send her back to Armenia if she worked well. “I stayed with Anoush for another four months but she didn’t send me back to Armenia. One day police raided the building. I took advantage of the melee and escaped once again. But ten days later I was brought back with the assistance of “Pochik Ali” (Ponytail Ali).

As Ani puts it, “Pochik Ali” is the boss of Dubai. When Armenian pimps need to punish their employees they call up this Arab with a long ponytail of hair hanging down. He takes the unruly employees to the desert where the women are gang raped, beaten and then brought back to work.

Ani relates that she was forced to stay with Ali after he was called in. “What else could I do? I stayed rather than being pushed down the toilet like the others or dragged off to the desert where they’d do who knows what. After this I’d give all the money I was making to him every day. But two months later he passed me back to Anoush.”

Ani escaped from the clutches of Anoush for the third time in 2004 when the pimp had left for her trial in Armenia.

“I worked for Anoush for almost two years. She had burned my Russian passport and tore up my Armenian one. This is why I couldn’t travel to Armenia for four years after escaping. I was bounced around by the Russian and Armenian consulates, nobody wanted to help me. I was rounded up by the police at least one hundred times but never deported. I wrote numerous letters to Armenia, to the 6th Department, explaining the entire situation. They sent off a letter to the Armenian Embassy with a certificate of return. They finally brought me back to Yerevan,” Ani testified in court.

During the trial, the court also listened to the testimony of a witness named Arousyak G. This woman had also been charged with “organizing prostitution” in the past. She stated that she knew Anoush not only from Yerevan but that she had met her in the Emirates as well. At the beginning of her testimony she verified that Anoush worked as a pimp in Dubai just as she had done. She later added that in the fall of 2007 she stayed in Anoush’s home for several months and that about 4-5 prostitutes were living there as well. Arousyak G. then went on to claim that the “working girls” didn’t hand over their daily take to Anoush but rather paid her rent at the end of each month. “None of them had a harsh word for Anoush. In fact, Anoush was well loved by them,” she stated.

At this point in the trial, Anoush Martirosyan is seen making the sign of the cross and praising God that at least one person has spoken the truth.

Another witness in the trial named “A.M.” turned out to be another victim of Madame Anoush. But this person wasn’t recognized as an injured party because she never filed a complaint against the pimp. She told the court that much time had passed since the events and that she could remember next to nothing.

“…Siroushik sent me off to Moscow in March of 2003, ostensibly for a high paying job as a waitress. A man named Arayik met me in Moscow and took me to his house. A few days later he handed me a fake Russian passport and put me on a plane to Dubai where I was met by Anoush. She proceeded to take my passport from me. She then took me to her house and told me that I’d have to work as a prostitute. Since I didn’t have a passport I was obliged to stay with Anoush and work as a prostitute like the other girls. Like the others, I handed everything I made to Anoush. She would always insult me and the other girls and beat us if we didn’t work according to her standards. I worked for Anoush until December, 2004, the time I was picked up by the police and deported to Armenia.”

The above is an excerpt of the testimony given by “A.M.” during the pre-trial examination. After the transcript was published and the judge asked if it had been recorded correctly the witness answered “yes”, and then added, “Well, if we went and didn’t work she should have beaten us one more time or at least chastised us.”

These words were greeted with applause. The one applauding was Sofya Martirosyan, the accused sister of Anoush.

To be continued

Sunday, February 15, 2009

PROSECUTOR GENERAL OF RUSSIA STRONGLY DENIES INFORMATION ABOUT BAD PASSPORTS AVAILABLE WITH ARMENIAN CITIZENS IN RUSSIA

ArmInfo
2009-02-13 10:51:00

ArmInfo.
Prosecutor General of Russia Yuri Chayka strongly denied information about bad passports available with the Armenian citizens living in Russia.

'I hear about it for the first time. However, I would know if things of this kind happened', Russian Prosecutor General said at today's joint press-conference with his Armenian counterpart in Yerevan.

As some Yerevan newspapers report, the law enforcement agencies of Russia have an information saying the Armenian authorities issued about 600,000 bad passports to the citizens currently living in Russia and having a local citizenship. "These are the passports used for falsification of the parliamentary election 2007, as well as the presidential election 2008. Investigation of this event has already started in Russia. A number of questions were forwarded to deputy Chief of Police Gevork Mheryan having been lately killed", the newspapers say and claim that investigation of this case is the prime target of Y. Chayka's visit to Armenia. For his part, Prosecutor General of Armenia Aghvan Hovsepyan emphasized that this is a disinformation and lie.