Anthony Godfrey: Free and fair elections are Armenia's international obligationFebruary 27, 2007 - 14:06 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - On February 27, the U.S. Embassy in Armenia began a three-day seminar on "Election Fraud and Related Corruption, International Standards, and Criminal Procedure Issues." The Press Office of American Embassy told the PanARMENIAN.Net journalist that approximately 70 representatives of the Armenian Police, Prosecutor General's Office, Central Election Commission, Territorial Election Commission, Ombudsman's Office, and First Instance and Review courts are participating in the seminar series. "Free and fair elections are not only a political commitment expressed by the Government of Armenia, but also an international legal obligation for Armenia under the European Convention on Human Rights and the case law of the European Court in Strasbourg. Election fraud undermines the social and political framework of a country," during the opening session, U.S. Chargé d'Affaires Anthony F. Godfrey remarked. As a follow up to the three-day seminar, the U.S. Mission will send six prosecutors and two Central Election Commission members to the United States for additional training. Top stories President of the Armenian parliament Alen Simonyan met with the Speaker of the Azerbaijani Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. Achieving stable peace between Armenia and Azerbaijan remains a priority of the OSCE, said Ian Borg. The Cabinet of Ministers decided on Thursday, November 9 to allocated AMD 120 million to arrange the gathering. Michael Roth believes sanctions must be put on the table after Baku‘s ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh. Partner news | International cybercrime ringleaders arrested in Armenia, Ukraine Europol, Europe's crime agency, has arrested four ringleaders of several cybercrime networks that used botnets. Armenia skips CSTO Defense Ministers meeting A meeting of the Council of Defense Ministers of the Collective Security Treaty Organization countries began in Almaty. Armenia, U.S. customs authorities to boost assistance with new deal The government has approved an agreement with the U.S. government on mutual assistance between the customs authorities. Armenia, Russia agree on repairing railway destroyed in floods Yerevan and Moscow have agreed to repair a flood-stricken railway in northern Armenia. |