A court in the Armavir Region has sentenced political leader Lavrenti Kirakosyan to 18 months in prison on drug charges. Human rights activists and political opposition leaders say Kirakosyan, regional head of the National Democratic Union, was framed by police who planted drugs in his home during a search, and that his arrest was for political reasons.

In reaching its decision, the court relied on testimony of five policemen, while disregarding the testimony of two civilian search witnesses whose testimony implied that police placed marijuana in Kirakosyan’s home.

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Research conducted on 30 women in four regions of Armenia found that 25 had traces of the chemical DDT in their systems.

Decades ago, Soviet health officials banned the use of DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), a pesticide used to kill weeds and bugs in agriculture crops.

As in other countries, USSR scientists concluded that exposure to the powerful chemical could lead to birth defects, could promote the incidence of cancer, cause liver failure, effect the nervous system. Exposure was especially dangerous for pregnant women.

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A state official suspected of complicity or execution of five crimes, including one that involved a murder, has continued his government post despite personal and professional connections that could influence criminal investigations.

Ara Poghosyan, head of the Armavir Region Real Estate Cadastre Department was charged nine months ago with hooliganism, embezzlement, official falsification, exceeding authority and concealment. He could face up to five years in prison if found guilty.

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A NATO organized conference in Azerbaijan’s capital was interrupted Tuesday when several Azeri nationalists stormed the session hall of the hotel where the meeting was taking place in protest of the presence of the Armenian delegation.

The activists of Karabakh Liberation organization (KLO) broke the police cordon and the glass door of the Europe hotel and burst into a conference hall demanding the extradition of Armenians from Azerbaijan.

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