Armenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of top news as of 24.07.2019:

·       A 19-year-old soldier, Volodya Galoyan, died in one of the military positions of the Artsakh Defense Army on the night of July 23.

Volodya Galoyan was from Aragatsotn village of Armenia’s Aragatsotn Province.

Melsik Ghazaryan, the prefect of Aragatsotn village, told Armenian News-NEWS.am that Galoyan had left for military service seven months ago.

The Investigative Committee of Armenia told Armenian News-NEWS.am that, right after opening fire, Galoyan left the area with the AK-74 rifle attached to him, after which, on July 24 at around 4:20 a.m., at a distance of nearly 50 meters from the vantage ground of the military position, his body was found, with a firearm injury in the lower area of the jaw, and his rifle was beside him.

·       Judge Arsen Nikoghosyan of the Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia returned from the consultation room and rendered a decision to reject the appeal of the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia in regard to attachment imposed on the assets of second President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and leave the June 7 decision of the first instance court in legal force.

Examining the appeal of Robert Kocharyan’s attorney against the decision on imposing attachment on the assets of Robert Kocharyan, Judge Anna Danibekyan of the first instance court rendered a decision on June 7 and recorded the violation of the rights of Robert Kocharyan, as well as rejected the appeal with respect to defining the duties of the body conducting proceedings for elimination of violation of the rights of Robert Kocharyan and of the prosecutor to remove investigator Musheghyan from the proceedings.

However, the Prosecutor General’s Office believes the decision on the case of Robert Kocharyan is unlawful and has appealed it.

·       Police officers of the Turkish city of Trabzon have arrested a citizen of Armenia.

Employees of the Department for Fight against Smuggling of the Police of Trabzon detected 650 packs of cigarettes, 220 packs of tobacco and 21 bottles of alcoholic drinks that had been smuggled into Turkey, Hurriyet reported.

A citizen of Armenia has been suspected of smuggling and is currently under arrest.

·       The number of registered crimes in Armenia has increased by 9 percent, or by 1,007 cases, in the first half of 2019. Chief of the Police Staff, Armen Ghukasyan, told reporters on Wednesday.

According to him, this is primarily due to an increase in the number of thefts.

In this connection, the chief of the Police Staff stressed that the Police of Armenia had received 93,874 crime reports during the first six months of 2018, whereas this number was 109,087 in the first six months of the current year.

·       Yerevan, Armenia’s capital has been included in the list of the 20 beautiful European cities with hardly any tourists, according to CNN. 

According to the source, its downtown area is a mix of Beaux Arts buildings and hulking, Soviet-era blocks.

The source advised tourists to take in the fascinating Apostolic Church and learn about the city's history at Erebuni Historical & Archaeological Museum-Reserve, a site that dates back to 782 BC.