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NEXT INFORMAL SUMMIT OF CIS PRESIDENTS TO TAKE PLACE N ALMATY FEB 28-MAR 2
SLAVE LABOR CASES REGISTERED IN ARMENIA
PROSECUTOR ASKS FOR 2 YEARS OF CONDITIONAL IMPRISONMENT WITH ONE-YEAR PROBATION PERIOD FOR PRESIDENT'S BODYGUARD
EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS ON OCCASION OF 14TH ANNIVERSARY OF KARABAKH MOVEMENT OPENS IN STEPANAKERT
FEBRUARY 19. An exhibition of works Karabakh
painters dedicated to the 14th anniversary of the Karabakh movement
opened in Stepanakert today. February 20, 1988, is
officially considered the commencement of the Karabakh movement.
Over 60 paintings by 23 old and young Karabakh painters, as well as 5
sculptures, are displayed at the exhibition. Opening the exhibition,
Chairman of the Union of Painters of Nagorny Karabakh Albert Safarian
stressed the importance of the Karabakh movement and its
freedom-loving goals for the national culture, in particular, for
painting. The works displayed at the exhibition tell about different
stages of the Karabakh movement and reflect its heroic spirit.
85% OF RECORDINGS IN ARMENIA PRODUCED ILLEGALLY
YOUNG ARMENIAN MUSICIANS TO PARTICIPATE IN INTERNATIONAL MUSICAL
FESTIVAL IN KAUNAS
HIS HOLINESS KAREKIN II RECEIVES AMBASSADOR DR. HAMED HASSAN
CATHOLICOS OF ALL ARMENIANS MEETS WITH IRAQI CHARGE D'AFFAIRES TO
ARMENIA
NATO SECRETARY GENERAL FOR STRENGTHENING TIES WITH RUSSIA, SOUTH
CAUCASUS AND CENTRAL ASIA
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FEBRUARY 19. The next informal summit of the CIS
presidents is to take place in Almaty Feb 28-Mar 3.
According to the 525 Baku daily, yesterday official Astana notified
the Azeri leadership of the date of the summit. The informal nature
of the summit does not imply the preparation of an official agenda.
Nevertheless, it is known that Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev,
who initiated the meeting, has proposed his CIS counterpart to
discuss problems of energy security in the CIS.
The president will also discuss the very urgent issue of fight
against organized crime and drug-smuggling. Besides, considering the
fact Central Asia has been actively cooperating with the West within
the framework of the anti-terror operation in Afghanistan,
Byelorussian President Aleksandr Lukashenko said he is going to raise
this issue during the summit.
Azeri President Haydar Aliev is also expected to take part in the
summit. He is still in the U.S., where he is undergoing a medical
treatment.
To recap, Aliev and Kocharyan are expected to meet within the
framework of the summit to discuss the Karabakh problem.
FEBRUARY 19. Cases of Russian citizens' slave labor
are registered in Armenia.
Talking to ARMINFO, Head of the Consular Department, Russian Embassy
in Armenia, Vladimir Khrulev said that in November 2000 the Embassy
received a signal that a Russian citizen worked as a farm-hand
without any rights in one of the villages in Akhurian, Shirak region.
The department officials' unexpected arrival at the village of
Jararat confirmed the information. Yuri Galochkin had arrived in the
Shirak region in 1988 to participate in the restoration works after
the 1988 earthquake. Soon he got his documents stolen, and one of the
villagers offered him a job, seizing his documents. A little later
Galochkin found himself in slavery. The Consular Department demanded
that the "masters" pay the man a compensation (100 USD for a year of
work) and send him to Moscow at their own expense. Thereafter, the
Russian Embassy received a paper wherein Galochkin said he had no
complaints of his "master". "We have no information on whether
33-year-old Galochkin arrived in Moscow," Khrulev said.
He also pointed out that a similar signal was recently received from
one of the villages in Amasy, Shirak region. Negotiations are
currently under way for the transportation of another farm-laborer,
who is also a disabled person, to his native town in Russia. "In this
situation I am most surprised at the local administration's awareness
and inaction, the fact that an officer of Armenia's law-enforcement
agencies was Galochkin's master', as well as at the fact that
we continue receiving similar signals," the Russian diplomat said.
FEBRUARY 19. The Public Prosecutor in the Poghos
Poghossian murder case asked the court to sentence the defendant
Aghamal Harutiunian to 2 years of conditional imprisonment with
one-year probation period.
According to him, the president's bodyguard Aghamal Harutiunian's
guilt is obvious. Harutiunian is charged with involuntary homicide.
According to the prosecutor, Harutiunian pushed Poghossian, and the
latter fell down and died.
Immediately after the prosecutor's speech, the victim's brother,
Andranik Poghossian called the preliminary investigation and the
trial clownery. He stated that all the persons that were beating up
his brother were not revealed. A. Poghossian also pointed out that a
clumsy service is being rendered to the president, and this trial
will mark the beginning of the process of his being removed.
In his turn, Harutiunian's lawyer said that his client was defending
himself, so he is innocent and must be acquitted.
FEBRUARY 19.In 2001 85% of the recordings
produced in Armenia were pirate copies. As a result, foreign authors
lost $4.5 mln, says a report by the International Federation of the
Phonographic Industry.
According to ti, 645,000 CDs and 3.7 mln cassettes were sold in
the country last year, of which 525,000 CDs and 3 mln cassettes were
produced illegally.
In Azerbaijan piracy also accounted for 85% of the recordings
produced in that country. Authors lost $13 mln as a result. The
figures were as follows: 8.9 mln cassettes and 1.6 mln CDs sold - 7.6
mln pirate cassettes and 1.3 mln pirate CDs, respectively.
Georgia has the highest piracy level - 86%, this causing losses of $6
mln. The figures were 825,000 CDs and 4.7 mln cassettes sold -
725,000 CDs and 4 mln cassettes produced illegally.
Besides, IFPI analysts fear that part of the recordings illegally
produced in Ukraine may be imported into Georgia. Ukraine is one of
the leading pirate producers in the world and is on "black list"
made by the U.S.
FEBRUARY 19.Four Armenian musicians will
participate in the International Musical Festival to be held in
Kaunas, Lithuania, April 2-7, Executive Secretary of the
Yerevan-based office of the Spivakov International Fund Yelena
Zakarian told ARMINFO.
According to her, Armenian children, who participate in musical
festivals in London, Paris, Marseilles, will for the
first time demonstrate their art in Lithuania. She pointed out that
all the potential participants in the festival are grant-holders of
the Spivakov Fund and attend the Sayat-Nova and Chaikovsky music
schools.
Zakarian added that master-classes are to be held in Yerevan April,
and in summer the young Armenian musicians will attend in
master-classes in Zurich, Switzerland.
FEBRUARY 19. His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme
Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, received Dr. Hamed Hassan,
the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Syrian Arab
Republic to the Republic of Armenia. Dr. Hassan visited the Mother
See of Holy Etchmiadzin to bid farewell to His Holiness upon the
conclusion of his diplomatic mission in Armenia, the press service of
the Holy See of Etchmiadzin told ARMINFO.
His Holiness expressed his appreciation for the Ambassador's four-year
service in Armenia. He had high praise for the Ambassador's efforts and
visible results in the sphere of fostering relations between the Armenian
and Syrian people.
"We will always remember you with fondness and wait for your return to
Armenia. When we find ourselves in Syria, we will seek you out, and want
you to be at our side", said His Holiness. Referring particularly to the
Ambassador's efforts on organizing his pilgrimage to Der Zor last year, on
the occasion of the Anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, His Holiness said,
"We are also deeply moved by your assistance to the Armenian Church and the
Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, that was manifested in the course of your
activities."
Expressing gratitude for the high esteem and consideration by His Holiness,
Ambassador Hassan stated, "During the period that I have been in Armenia,
the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has always been the place of great
importance and significance, where I have wished to be. I return to Syria
with the highest impressions of your country, your people and your Church."
Bidding farewell to the Ambassador, His Holiness wished him every success in
his further diplomatic missions, offering a prayer that God grant him a long
life, success in his endeavors and the realization of activities which will
benefit the friendship between the two peoples and nations.
FEBRUARY 19. Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II
met with Iraqi Charge D'Affaires to Armenia Abas Muhhar Al-Badri
today. The sides discussed prospects of development of Armenian-Iraqi
relations.
As the press service of the Holy See of Etchmiadzin told ARMINFO, the
sides stressed the role of Iraq's Armenian Diaspora in that country's
every-day life. His Holiness said his prayer wishing peace to the two
peoples in the name of God.
