Armenian News - NEWS.am presented a daily digest of a top news as of 03.02.2020:

·       The investigation into the death of Armenian soldier in Artsakh continues.

The relatives of the soldier, who died on January 30, were carrying the dead body of soldier Vahram Avagyan in a coffin on Sunday to Yerevan demanding to find and punish the perpetrators.

They believe Avagyan was murdered, while, Armenian IC said the soldier had shot himself with gun attached to him. He was pronounced dead at the military hospital.

The clashes occurred Sunday between the police officers and the relatives.

According to Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan, who had met the soldiers, there have been three people arrested over the case and one of them is the son of ex-MP Arakel Movsisyan.

Meanwhile, it became known that the man, 62, died of a heart attack during yesterday’s protest, in Armavir Province, Haytagh village resident told Armenian News - NEWS.am.

·       PACE monitors have expressed their concern Friday by the high level of tension between State institutions in Armenia.

According to PACE co-rapporteurs for the monitoring of Armenia, Andrej Šircelj and Kimmo Kiljunen, they are worried about the long-term damage these tensions could inflict on the judiciary as a whole, in which trust is already very low.

“So far, the Government and the Parliament have respected legal procedures to resolve the situation,” they said adding they will closely monitor that the Armenian authorities continue to act in this way.

According to them, they highlighted the need for political players to refrain from actions and statements that could be perceived as exerting pressure on the judiciary.

Thus, “these tensions should not overshadow the need for reforms in Armenia, whether it be those in preparation or those that have already been launched in many areas of interest for the Council of Europe,” they concluded.

·       Meanwhile, Sweden has notified on January 31 the General Secretariat of the European Council and the EU Council about the completion of its internal procedures necessary for the ratification of the Armenia-EU deal, Anna Naghdalyan wrote on her Facebook.

·       A total of 360 people were killed from the Chinese coronavirus 2019-nCoV, while the number of infected reaches 17,000. And the first death has been recorded outside China in Philippines.

Meanwhile, the first analysis for the new coronavirus 2019-nCoV was carried out Monday in Armenia using reagents received last night from Russia. The patient returned from China with high fever, however, the results of all the tests were negative.

Armenian MFA spokesperson Anna Naghdalyan, in her turn, wrote about the Armenian citizen Susanna Aghajanyan who had expressed the desire to be evacuated from China to Kazakhstan. Thus, she moved to Kazakhstan through cooperation with the country’s MFA.

“Armenian Embassy is constantly in contact with the Armenian citizen and is taking actions to bring her back to Armenia as soon as possible,” Naghdalyan note.

By the way, Armenian FM Zohrab Mnatsakanyan also commented on the situation and expressed solidarity with China in tackling coronavirus outbreak.

·       Actor Andy Serkis received the BAFTA for Outstanding Contribution to British Cinema at London's Royal Albert Hall on Sunday night.

Organizers previously noted Serkis “pioneered the evolving art of performance capture and widened the parameters of what it means to be an actor in the 21st century.”

Serkis, who has Armenian roots, is well known for his roles in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker films, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Black Panther, etc.