MARCH 29 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Raffi Hovannisian, the runner-up in a presidential election in Armenia in February, said he would end a hunger strike on April 1, media reported. He had started the hunger strike to protest against what he described as a rigged vote. Mr Hovannisian promised to continue street protests.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 129, published on March 29 2013)
MARCH 27 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Azerbaijani officials opened an investigation into the US vote monitoring group the National Democratic Institute (NDI) for distributing grants without the correct registration, media reported. The authorities in Azerbaijan have been cracking down on media and rights groups ahead of an election next year.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 129, published on March 29 2013)
MARCH 21 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Georgia’s parliament voted to cut the president’s authority, the latest move in the power struggle between supporters of President Mikheil Saakashvili and PM Bidzina Ivanishvili. The amendment scraps the president’s right to sack a cabinet. The pro-Western Mr Saakashvili finishes his second term and final term as president in October.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 128, published on March 22 2013)
MARCH 16 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Prisons in the former Soviet Union have a reputation for being notoriously tough places; human rights groups routinely criticise them for being over-crowded and Georgia had been no exception.
Statistics showed that Georgia had one of the highest prison populations in the world compared to the size of its population.
The Georgian authorities, though, had a solution and since January they have released nearly half the inmates in its prisons in a mass amnesty.
The amnesty reduced Georgia’s prison population to 11,107 from 19,349 in December, according to local media. These were mainly people convicted of robbery and crimes which didn’t involve violence.
But like many aspects of Georgian life, the amnesty was also politically highly charged.
Georgia’s politics is split between supporters of President Mikheil Saakashvili and supporters of PM Bidzina Ivanishvili. Mr Saakashvili declined to sign off on the amnesty bill, forcing it back through parliament where enough of his MPs sided with his opponents to pass it.
Even with the prison amnesty it’s still unclear what’s more important, the humanitarian gesture or the politics.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 128, published on March 22 2013)
MARCH 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Human rights groups heavily criticised the Azerbaijani authorities for using rubber bullets and tear gas to break up an unsanctioned rally in central Baku. Hundreds of people had gathered to protest the death of three conscripts who allegedly committed suicide. Media reported no injuries at the rally.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 127, published on March 15 2013)
MARCH 10 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenian opposition leader Raffi Hovannisian began a hunger strike to protest against what he claims was a rigged Feb. 18 presidential election. Mr Hovannisian, a former foreign minister, came second in the election with 37% of the vote. Incumbent president Serzh Sarksyan won the election with 59%.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 127, published on March 15 2013)
MARCH 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Armenia’s main opposition leaders lodged a complaint that the Feb. 18 presidential election won by the incumbent Serzh Sarksyan was rigged. Since the result hundreds of people, lead by Raffi Hovannisian who came second in the election with 37% of the vote, have demonstrated in central Yerevan.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 126, published on March 8 2013)
FEB. 26 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Britain’s Supreme Court threw out a final appeal by Kazakh fugitive billionaire Mukhtar Ablyazov against a 22-month prison sentence for lying in court about his assets. Ablyazov is facing charges that he embezzled $6b from Kazakhstan-based BTA Bank where he had once been chairman.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 126, published on March 8 2013)
MARCH 4 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Amid an increasingly acrimonious political divide in Georgia, President Mikheil Saakashvili and PM Bidzina Ivanishvili met for only the second time since an election on Oct. 1 to discuss their differences. Supporters of Georgia’s two political leaders have clashed recently in Tbilisi.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 126, published on March 8 2013)
MARCH 6 2013 (The Conway Bulletin) – Police in Yerevan arrested Vardan Sedrakyan, a candidate in Armenia’s presidential election last month, for organising the attempted assassination of Paruyr Hayrikyan, who also stood in the vote, media reported. A gunman shot Mr Hayrikyan in the shoulder outside his home shortly before the election. Prosecutors did not suggest a motive for the apparent murder attempt.
ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved
(News report from Issue No. 126, published on March 8 2013)
