Azerbaijan violates Karabakh ceasefire, about 50 people forcibly detained in Armenia, Apr. 22 digest

Armenian News - NEWS.am presents the daily digest of Armenia-related top news as of 22.04.21:

ARTSAKH

The armed forces of Azerbaijan violated the ceasefire in Nagorno-Karabakh [Artsakh] and opened fire, targeting the Artsakh capital Stepanakert, as well as Askeran region’s Shosh and Mkhitarashen villages.

As a result of the firing, the roof of a house in Stepanakert was damaged. The Artsakh MFA has issued a statement noting that adversary’s aggressive actions are aimed at torpedoing the Russian peacekeeping mission.

"Any attempt to intimidate the people of Artsakh is doomed to failure and it can in no way undermine our determination to live freely in our homeland," the statement added.

LOCAL SITUATION

During Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan's visit to Syunik Province on Wednesday, the locals did not allow him to enter their communities. Protests were held in various Syunik communities where the people called Pashinyan a traitor and a capitulator of land. Also, various cursing and insults were made at him, under which he left these communities.

Later Pashinyan instructed to arrest all the organizers of protests.

At night nearly 50 people have been detained at their homes. Those arrested include the mayor of Meghri town, Mkhitar Zakaryan, and Deputy Mayor of Goris Menua Hovsepyan.

Footage has also been shared of the violent detention of former Shurnukh village official Ararat Aghabekyan. The video shows how he barely catching his breath asks to call an ambulance as he was feeling ill for seven days. ( VIDEO)

“What do I have to do with all this, I am sick (...) I am dying, and my medicines are at home," he said.

All the arrested, except for Menua Hovsepyan - whose whereabouts are still unknown, - have been taken to the Investigative Committee of Armenia. The protests were being held there since morning to support all those detained.

PACE

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Monitoring Committee has issued a statement during Thursday’s session, in which it called on Azerbaijan to immediately return all Armenian captives.

"Underscoring the concerns expressed by the European Court of Human Rights with respect to 188 Armenians allegedly captured by Azerbaijan the Committee calls upon Azerbaijan to ensure that all Armenian detainees are released without delay into the care of the Armenian authorities," the statement reads.

GENOCIDE

A bipartisan group of 107 U.S. House Members on Wednesday called on President Biden to “clearly and directly recognize the Armenian Genocide” in his upcoming April 24 statement, ending Turkey’s foreign gag-rule against honest U.S. remembrance of this crime.

Wall Street Journal reported referring to the US officials that Biden is expected to describe the deportation, starvation, and massacres of Armenians as genocide.

During the briefing, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki was asked to comment on Biden's future actions over the Genocide recognition. Thus, she noted: "I expect we will have more to say about Remembrance Day on Saturday. But I don’t have anything to get ahead of that at this point in time."

COVID-19

As of Thursday morning, 881 new cases of the coronavirus were confirmed in Armenia, and the total number of these cases has reached 211,399 in the country.

Also, 25 more deaths from COVID-19 were registered, making the respective total 3,969 cases.

The number of people who have recovered over the past one day is 887, the total respective number so far is 191,158.

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