President Reportedly Takes over Investigation as Interior Minister Admits Journalist’s Disappearance Could Be Linked to His Work

By Louise Hallman, IPI Press Freedom Advisor for Europe

Vienna, 23 August 2010 – The International Press Institute (IPI) expressed concern today over the safety of Ukrainian journalist Vasyl Klymentyev, who has been missing in the country for 10 days. »»»»»

To the attention of:
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs. Navi Pillay
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Antonio Guterres
Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Mr. Thomas Hammarberg
EU Commission members

We express our concern and disappointment about the continous refoulments of Eritrean and Somalian refugees, carried out by the Governments of Italy and Malta. »»»»»

The Hayazn Youth Fraternity will be organizing a march on Tuesday, August 10, to commemorate the 80 anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Sevres. Marchers will hand letters to the embassies of France, Italy and the United States, calling on these governments to see to it that Turkey recognizes and implements its obligation to cede 100,000 kilometers of land to the First Republic of Armenia.

The march will kick-off at the Myasninkyan Statue at 12 noon. All are invited to participate.

Hampig “Harry” Sassounian was denied parole on Thursday, August 5, for his role in assassinating a Turkish diplomat in Los Angeles in 1982.

A parole board panel meeting at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo ruled that Sassounian, an Armenian immigrant who lived in Pasadena, will not be up for parole again until 2013. »»»»»

Love appears to be the motive

A man awaiting trial in the killing of an Armenian woman in March was charged Tuesday with the 2008 slaying of the woman’s husband and 8-year-old daughter, as well as the fatal, sniper-styled attack on a prostitute on Sunset Boulevard earlier this year. »»»»»

According to the “Louys” Armenian cultural center in the Russian city of Novorossiysk, some 40 Armenian grave stones were desecrated during the night of July 24 at two local cemeteries. »»»»»

In all, some fifty graves were vandalized. News of the destruction was reported by “Yerkramas”, a newspaper that serves the  Russian-Armenian community.

It was absolutely within the law for the highest tribunal of the United Nations – the International Court of Justice (ICJ) – to conclude on the 22nd of July, 2010, that “the unilateral declaration of independence of Kosovo does not violate international law”. It was within the law first of all because the right to direct one’s own political affairs, through the establishment of self-determination, is included in the UN Charter [Article 1(2)] as one of the main goals of the organisation. »»»»»

“AGHET: A GENOCIDE,” a powerful documentary by German filmmaker Eric Friedler depicting Ottoman Turkey’s annihilation of 1.5 million Armenians from 1915 to 1923, was shown to a standing room only crowd of legislators, staff and community activists at a Capitol Hill screening in Washington D.C.

Congressional Armenian Genocide Resolution author Adam Schiff (D-CA), who hosted screening, offered opening remarks thanking film producer Katharina Trebitsch and Friedler for his “tenacity and his wonderful work.” »»»»»

What’s one environmentally friendly way to deal with the millions of plastic bags bottles now used and discarded around the world, including Armenia? Walk into any supermarket in Yerevan and you can see the number of plastic bags handed out in a day. What happens to them?

Dr. Vilas Pol , a researcher at Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois says that rather than languishing in landfills or littering roadsides, plastic bags could make their way into useful products like toner, lubricants, or rechargeable cell phone or laptop batteries, if new research becomes commercialized. »»»»»

A report on the activities of controversial Armenians — the “Artur brothers”— has been lying in the Kenyan parliament since 2007 without being debated, this according to an article in yesterday’s “Daily Nation”, Kenya’s largest circulation newspaper.

During their presence in Kenya, the Armenians, Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargsyan, are said to have been involved in numerous illegal activities, including tax evasion. »»»»»

This is how the Glendale Press covered the recent visit of the town’s Armenian Mayor to Yerevan.

What started out as a personal return trip to Armenia soon snowballed into an official visit for Mayor Ara Najarian this past week.

Once word got out in Yerevan, Armenia, that Najarian was in town to attend a conference on the future of the Western dialect of the Armenian language, it wasn’t long before he was invited to meet with a slew of high-ranking government officials and dignitaries, including President Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan. »»»»»

Seizing bank accounts, homes, cars – anything that is the product of dirty money – is Serbia’s new tool in its fight against organized criminal groups. The tactic appears to be putting a serious scare into crime bosses, who police said are plotting assassinations of top government officials in response.
That is not an idle threat here, where in 2003 mobsters assassinated the first democratically elected president. »»»»»

A 26-year-old man suspected of killing four men of Armenian descent at a memorial gathering in a North Hollywood restaurant pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other counts.

Nerses Galstyan, an Armenian national, is charged with four counts of murder, two counts of attempted murder and one count of mayhem involving the April 3 attack at the now-closed Hot Spot restaurant in the Valley Village area. »»»»»