PreferredArmenian News - NEWS.am presents a daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 07.05.2020:
· A total of 2,884 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Armenia with 1,185 recoveries and 42 deaths, the Armenian health ministry tweeted.
A total of 28,017 tests have been completed and 102 new cases and 50 recoveries.
Regarding the latest two death cases, the 78 and 66-year-old male patients had pre-existing chronic diseases. Two more deaths were registered yesterday when the patients had tested positive for coronavirus, but the cause of death was another disease. The total of such deaths is nine.
· The Armenian parliamentary committee leading a probe into the circumstances behind the four-day Artsakh war has invited Armenian ex-PM Karen Karapetyan to a session.
Chair of the committee Andranik Kocharyan informed that the session will be held on Monday and that Karen Karapetyan will answer the committee’s questions.
· The ECHR has delivered a new judgment on the case of Anahit Mkrtchyan v. Armenia.
The case concerned the death of the applicant’s 22-year old son during his military service back in 2001. The ECHR has found a violation of Article 2 (right to life) of the European Convention of Human Rights and awarded to the applicant just satisfaction of EUR 24,000 for non-pecuniary damage and EUR 2,000 for costs and expenses.
The 22-year-old soldier died from a gunshot wound in the head in the office of his battalion’s commanding officer. From the outset, the official explanation for the incident was that another conscript had accidentally shot her son. Ms. Mkrtchyan, in turn, suspected his commanding officer who she alleged had been abusing her son and extorting money from him.
The investigation is still ongoing today, with the criminal proceedings having been stayed for the second time in March 2019 on the grounds that it had not been possible to identify the person against whom charges should be brought.
· The media have been disseminating reports that after Argishti Kyaramyan's appointment as National Security Service (NSS) Deputy Director, several dozen NSS officials have written letters of resignation.
The NSS, however, has dismissed the reports.
· US President Donald J. Trump has nominated Patrick Hovakimian to be General Counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, White House press service reported.
Hovakimian is currently the Associate Deputy Attorney General and Chief of Staff to Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen at the Department of Justice.
· A tragic incident occurred in Beirut, Lebanon. The Al-Nashra website reports that an unknown young man opened fire on a store employee in the area of Sat al-Pashriya, who died on the spot from gunshot wounds.
Arevelk reported that this woman was Armenian.
Based on the Democracy Score and its scale, Armenia remains a state with a Semi-Consolidated Authoritarian Regime.
According to the report, Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan will now face the difficult challenge of managing expectations, maintaining trust, and restructuring corrupt systems without contravening democratic norms.
The authors also noted that “local concern over runoff from the planned Amulsar gold mine became a headache” for the PM.
