Tumanyan Police in Lori say that one of the victims in the Serop Der-Boghossian pedophilia trial, who had avoided military service and was on the run, has been arrested.
Hetq had pointed the finger at Metal Prince for secretly dumping waste by-products of the Akhtala Enrichment Combine directly into the Akhtala River, a tributary of the Debed River.
Although the campaigning season opened on August 30, Kamo Babayan is almost not campaigning at all.
At one point, one of the mothers rose and shouted, “Mr. Serop, what are we hearing here today? Did you do such things to my child?”
The mother of a victim in the Serop Der-Boghossian paedophilia trial stated that if her son did have sexual relations with the owner of Metal Prince Ltd., it was his 'personal business'.
Prosecutor Amirzadyan said that the largest onetime payment made by Der-Boghossian to "curry the favours" of certain boys amounted to $25,000.
Metal Prince security personnel took those testifying against Der-Boghossian to court in a SUV.
53 year-old Ofik Evoyan has been stripped of her 3rd class disability status despite the removal of one of her breasts.
But not everyone is willing to take the risk and eat fish caught from the river which serves as a dumping ground for the waste materials of the Akhtala Mining Combine and stone processors in the area.
On August 14, Hetq reporters spotted 4 trucks on the road leading to the village of Ahnidzor. Three were full of timber. The area in question falls within the Lorout management district.
Locally picked blackberries may be hazardous to your health
For the past three years, Armenians haven't been allowed to visit the 13th century Khorakert Monastery in neighboring Georgia.
Large-scale logging in Jiliza is now underway. Hetq reporters came upon a group of tractors and trucks on the stretch of ro ad winding its way deep in the forest between Alaverdi and Jiliza.
Prosecutor Amirzadyan also told reporters that the film shows Der-Boghossian using physical force with the minors, but that he didn't think it appropriate to go into details.
In the town of Akhtala rumours were spreading today that not all those minors who fell prey to the sexual exploits of Serob Der-Boghossian were included as litigants in the case.
Der-Boghossian,charged with a number of sexually-related crimes involving minors, was described as appearing "cool, calm and collected" and "impeccably dressed".
The Teghout operation will produce about 28,000 tons of copper ore a year. This will be in addition to the 23,000 already produced in Armenia.
Even before the noon start time, protestors had assembled in front of the court house demanding a just verdict. The protest was organized by an NGO called the Women's Resource Center.
American-Armenian businessman Serop Der-Boghossian refused to enter the Lori Regional Court in the presence of reporters today at the start of his trial.
What lessons can Armenia learn from new technologies being implemented in these post-Soviet countries to deal with toxic mining wastes? A delegation from Armenia went to find out.
Even though the tailings dam along the road leading to the Svinets neighborhood in Akhtakla has been closed for the past two years, the threat of the toxins washing into the Akhtala River and then into the Debed River are real.
Two new bells now grace the Armenian Church of Odzoun near the northern town of Alaverdi. They were installed in a Palm Sunday service and blessed by Bishop Sepuh Chuljian, Primate of the Gougark Diocese.
On April 16, acclaimed actor Karen Janibekyan and his wife made the trip to a field outside the northern Armenian town of Teghout to plant trees along with 140 college students.
The garbage dump for the town of Vanadzor lies within the boundaries of the village of Arjut, population 1,500.
Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said the following on March 12 regarding the problems facing the country’s agricultural sector.
Artvi Residents Just Don’t Believe President’s Pledge Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan said the following on March 12 regarding the problems facing the country’s agricultural sector. “Each one of us must periodically travel to the villages and ...
The company has been spreading rumours that workers at the Mining Enrichment Combinat could be out of a job if Der-Boghossian, a U.S. citizen facing charges of paedophilia, was forced to leave. Management has been trying to convince residents that a local Armenian businessman doesn’t have what it takes to operate the plant.
The public toilets located near the market in the Haypetshin neighbourhood in Alaverdi are creating a public nuisance. Over 50 vendors and passersby use the toilets daily. Unfortunately, neither the town nor the local offices of the RA Ministry of Health ...
Residents Have Dug Wells Close to Polluted Debed River The village of Qarkop, population 400, lies on the banks of the Debed River in northern Armenia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, local residents were deprived of a functioning drinking water ...
Large Photograph of Der-Boghosyan with President Serves as Carte Blanche A large photograph depicting Serop Der-Boghosyan, the American-Armenian owner of the Akhtala Mining and Metallurgical Combine, standing next to President Serzh Sargsyan, was recently ...
The Vallex Group, a conglomerate of mining concerns in Armenia and the NKR, has announced that it will provide 1,000 Euros to a local NGO in Alaverdi studying the environmental risks posed by the arsenic waste site at the Alaverdi Mining Metallurgical Combine. The ...
This is the story of yet another private enterprise, a holdover from the Soviet era of manufacturing, which has met its demise. Its owner, Hovik Galinyan, is taking it apart, piece by piece, and selling the parts as construction material. The factory, ...
Tchotchkan Mayor Samvel Gigolyan is concerned about the tailing dam, property of the Akhtala Mining Enrichment Combine, left over from the Soviet period. He stated that the threat of fissures in the dam is growing by the day.The tailings are in a liquid state ...
Torrential rains of the last few days have caused the waters of the Debed River in northern Armenia to overflow its banks. As a result, the Armenian Copper Programme’s "Metalurg" athletic field in the town of Alaverdi has been flooded out and a bulwark protecting ...
Flower vendors in Alaverdi about the slow trade today, despite it being International Women’s Day. Mrs. Neli, who sells her colourful flowers from a small store next to Sayat Nova Square told us that business had dropped from previous years. Rasident ...
65 year-old Zhora Khachatryan receives a monthly pension of 23,000 AMD ($60). No one works in his family of five. Given the family’s strapped resources, Mr. Khachatryan hadn’t sat down in a barber’s chair for quite awhile. That is until barber Tigran ...
Back in the early 1980’s, the arsenic waste effluents produced at the Alaverdi Mining and Metallurgical Plant were dumped into a site locally nicknamed the “graveyard This toxic dump is located on the edges of the road leading to the town’s “Len-Hanker” ...
The mining sector in the district of Tumanyan, nestled in the picturesque natural splendor of Lori Marz, is expanding without hindrance. The rich copper and gold reserves found here are controlled by three of Armenia’s biggest companies. The mine at Teghut ...
The day I visited Mghart, a village of about 500 located halfway on the road from Vanadzor north to Alaverdi, in Lori Marz, there were at least ten men sitting in the village square. I approached them and asked where I might find the house of Karabakh freedom ...
American businessman Serob Ter-Poghosyan, president and owner of Metal Prince, has been operating a open copper mine on the sly for the past year. The mine, an eyesore in its own right, is located by the cemetery near the town of Shamlough. Presently, ...
The town of Shamlough is one of the mining extraction sites in Lori Marz. The villages of Shamlough, Bendik, Boughaqar and Verin Akhtala are located within its administrative borders. During the waning days of the Soviet Union, Shamlough had a population of ...
These horrific photos attest to the fact that the unique natural beauty of Lori is under attack not only by the Alaverdi Copper Foundry and by wastes emitted by local tailings dams but by the mounds of residential garbage scattered about seemingly neglected ...
18 year-old Souren Atyan has suffered from progressive muscular dystrophy from early childhood. The debilitating disease has left him crippled. Ill fate has left this young man, a resident of the Dsegh village in Lori Marz, the sole supporter of a family ...
At 10:15 this morning, a white "Mitshubishi-300L" minivan ferrying passengers back from the Georgian town of Kobuleti struck a "PAZ-672" bus along the 5 kilometer stretch of Ashtarak highway. The minivan passengers sustained heavy injuries and ...
No parking signs have appeared on Tumanyan Street, a major thoroughfare in the town of Alaverdi next to a building that belongs to the "Kata" store chain. It would appear that Alaverdi drivers see the signs as more of a joke than a concerted effort by municipal ...
On July 19, during celebrations marking "Alaverdi City and Mining Day", Armenian 'National Artist" Vladimir Msryan was honored at the Alaverdi cultural center. The famous actor's parents, Hovhannes and Araks Msryan, spent many years developing the theatrical ...
Traffic cops are supposed to protect drivers and pedestrians from unwanted accidents on the highways and byways of the country. This is the theory, at any rate. When a driver sees an approaching cop car, one usually checks the car's speed and takes the ...
“Hetq” has previously covered the story of Sanasar and Marineh Ghevondyan, an estranged husband and wife from Odzun whose lives has becoming a running battle of mutual recrimination where there exists a healthy share of revulsion for one another. (See: ...