Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 02.04.21:

  • The trial of the criminal case against Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan and other former high-ranking officials has resumed on Thursday.

The defendants are charged with the overthrow of the constitutional order under the article of the Criminal Code - which the Constitutional Court declared invalidated.

In this regard, lawyers have earlier presented a motion to terminate the criminal prosecution under this article at the nearest court session, however, the court on Tuesday refused to discontinue this criminal prosecution and adjourned the hearing due to the absence of the prosecution.

The situation was tense in the court on Friday - a judge has been suspending Friday's trial for several times.

In turn, the Prosecutor General of Armenia today appealed to the Constitutional Court on the case of Robert Kocharyan and others.

FM Aivazian stressed the need to immediately return the Armenian POWs and detainees who are held on the Azerbaijani side in violation of the obligations provided for in the aforesaid tripartite statement.

Foreign Ministers also discussed the current issues related to the humanitarian response in Nagorno-Karabakh and the unblocking of economic and communication links in the region.

On this occasion, the senior officials of Armenia were visiting Yerablur Military Pantheon.

Flowers were laid by President Armen Sarkissian and on behalf of Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan and ex-president Serzh Sargsyan.

Pashinyan was not present personally as he is in self-isolation since Friday up to his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for April 7.

  • The Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) Defense Army has reported the names of 52 more soldiers, reservists, and volunteers who had fallen during the Nagorno-Karabakh war.

The number of such casualties from the Armenian side has now reached 2,754.

  • The Congressional Armenian Caucus is calling for over $100 million in U.S. aid to Armenia and Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) following Turkey and Azerbaijan’s devastating attacks last year, the Armenian National Committee of America reported.

They also call for the suspension of all U.S. security assistance for Azerbaijan until it has been verified to have ceased all attacks against Armenia and Artsakh.

As of Friday morning, 1,116 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 194,852.

Also, 19 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,552 cases.

Meanwhile, Armenia has also reported 10 UK COVID-19 strain cases.

A criminal case has been launched, and forensic medical and forensic technical examinations have been designated.

This is up by AMD 1.03 from Thursday, the Central Bank of Armenia reported.