Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 19.12.2019:

·       Prosperous Armenia Party faction MP Naira Zohrabyan said on Thursday that people have broken into the editorial office of Zhoghovurd daily and ArmLur.am website at night.

According to her, the whole office was turned upside down.

Penetration into the editorial office of Zhokhovurd newspaper is an attempt to intimidate and put pressure on media, the newspaper editor-in-chief Knar Manukyan told reporters on Thursday.

The former editor-in-chief of the newspaper, the My Step bloc deputy Taguhi Tovmasyan said she suspected the incident was aimed at finding a source. 

The wires of the cameras were reportedly cut off at the entrance to the editorial office, so nothing was captured on cameras.

·       Armenian maternity hospital director Razmik Abrahamyan has been detained within the criminal case over illegal adoption of Armenia’s children by foreigners.

His deputy Arshak Jerjeryan, as well as Liana Karapetyan, Director of Yerevan Children's Home SNCO, have also been detained on same suspicion.

According to Investigative Committee’s statement earlier, charges were brought against a female Yerevan resident, born in 1976, in the aforementioned criminal case.

"But it is very important that the investigation of the case be without emotions, complete," Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan, in turn, noted.

·       Armenian parliament convened the special sitting on Thursday.

At the end of the sitting, speaker Ararat Mirzoyan said that the third session of the parliament of the 7th convocation officially ended its work and goes on New Year break.

By the way, today it approved in the second reading, with a vote of 94 for and 18 against, the package of bills on making amendments and addenda to law on local referendum and related laws.

·       The Los Angeles police arrested three gang members accused of robbing an Armenian family at gunpoint last July.

A three man wearing masks attacked an Armenian family and their friends from Glendale when they were walking to their cars after having played laser tag at the Zone Laser Tag Fun Center, Los Angeles CBS Local reported. A Glendale couple and their son were entertaining a family of five from Armenia. The criminals robbed them at gunpoint and shot one member of the family, an Armenian man. He was hospitalized, but survived. The family later came back to Armenia.

·       Over 60 cultural figures from Armenia and Russia have issued a statement calling for the release of the first president of Artsakh and second president of Armenia Robert Kocharyan to commute his pretrial measure.

"We are concerned about the moral and psychological climate in Armenia," their statement reads.  “We believe that the current situation of the president is unnatural and does not contribute to the positive image of Armenia and the recovery of the public atmosphere in the country.”

·       Attachment has been imposed on the assets of third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan and President of Flash LLC Barsegh Beglaryan, Special Investigation Service reported.

According to the preliminary investigation body, using his official position, in 2013, Serzh Sargsyan organized embezzlement of a particularly large amount (AMD 489,160,310) through squander from the State by a group of officials. Signature to not leave the country was selected as a preventive measure for the third President and Barsegh Beglaryan.

·       A young man holds a protest rally near Armenian government building threatening to commit suicide if not accepted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. 

The man put a knife to his own throat.

According to the young man, the reason he wants to see Pashinyan is because the investigator demanded $ 20,000 from his mother not to send his brothers to prison who are sentenced to 11 and 12 years in prison for theft.