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  • Khosrov Forest Case: 'Green' Activists Urge Police To Catch 'Real Cu

    KHOSROV FOREST CASE: 'GREEN' ACTIVISTS URGE POLICE TO CATCH 'REAL CULPRITS' IN ILLEGAL HUNTING
    By Julia Hakobyan

    ArmeniaNow
    02.10.12 | 12:10

    Alleged illegal hunting in a national park has sparked fresh mutual
    accusations between government officials and environmentalists, who
    insist that the police have picked the wrong man as a suspect in a
    high-profile poaching case.

    The Khosrov Reserve again made the news late last month after a civil
    initiative group with the identical name disseminated footage with
    evidence of illegal hunting in the protected forest area. It filed a
    statement with the police saying that during a visit to the territory
    of the Khosrov Forest State Reserve its activists found remains
    of killed animals listed in the Red Book of endangered species,
    in particular a Bezoar goat and a Caucasian bear, as well as traces
    of bonfires, household waste, including empty vodka bottes, after
    apparent barbecue parties.

    Following a demand of the environmentalists that the police conduct
    a probe into the case, the Ministry of the Environment set up a
    working group, which visited the national park area where it found
    and documented the evidence of the crime (including an ibex's severed
    head).

    Last Sunday the Armenian police reported an arrest of a resident
    of Garni, 29-year-old Norik Sargsyan, who was charged with illegal
    hunting in the territory of the reserve.

    The very next day, the Khosrov Reserve civic initiative issued a
    statement, saying that Sargsyan has nothing to do with the crime and
    that the police are trying to frame him psychological intimidation
    on him.

    "This shows that the police, using methods typical of them, are doing
    anything to put the blame on Sargsyan, while covering up the real
    criminals and hiding the omissions of the Ministry of the Environment,"
    it said.

    The Initiative reported that Sargsyan demands that law-enforcement
    agencies ensure the presence of his lawyer on a compulsory basis.

    "If Sargsyan is not provided with a lawyer, it will be a gross
    violation of the law by the law-enforcement agencies. It is not
    excluded that he will be coerced into giving the 'desired' testimony,"
    the group said.

    Meanwhile, the Police, too, issued a statement accusing the
    environmentalists of obstructing the investigation with their actions
    and alleging that the activists in actual fact were not interested
    in the disclosure of the case.

    "The environmentalists are not interested in dead animals or the
    disclosure of the fact of poaching. They do not care even for the
    confessed poacher, Norik Sargsyan, whom they have taken under their
    protection with amazing zeal. Environmentalists are apparently
    interested in another opportunity to make some noise, this time
    by means of defending the 'rights' of a poacher. Sargsyan is being
    portrayed by them as an innocent person who wasn't aware of anything,
    whom the police are trying to put the whole blame on," the Police
    said in the statement, stressing that Sargsyan, too, has served
    in the law-enforcement system (Department of State Security of the
    Armenian Police) since 2005 and the Police have no need whatsoever to
    'sacrifice their colleague' or cover up the incident.

    Earlier, at a press conference in September, workers of the Ministry
    of the Environment expressed their concern over what they described
    as the environmental activists' "illegal" entry to the Khosrov reserve.

    Activists were outraged then that instead of finding the perpetrators
    of the crime, officials were more preoccupied with their entry to the
    territory of the reserve. They believe that the case in the Khosrov
    forest was not the work of poachers, but that the crime was committed
    by people who had come there to hunt for sport and have a good time.

    The Kakavaberd section (where the traces of hunting and partying were
    found) is the weakest section of the Khosrov reserve, and there are
    many paths along which poachers can easily get to the area supposed
    to be protected by the state from poachers.

    The Khosrov Reserve is a conservation area in the Ararat region
    of Armenia and hunting animals like Red Book-listed Bezoar goats,
    Armenian mouflons or panthers in the reserve is punishable with a
    fine of up to $7,000.

    Still, several websites offer options for hunting some Red Book species
    in Armenia. For example, the Ibex club (which has Moscow telephone
    numbers) offers "a Bezoar ibex hunting tour in the best mountains
    about 120 kilometers from Yerevan". The hunt for the Armenian mouflon
    is organized in the mountains of Meghri, about 500 kilometers from
    capital Yerevan.

    "Normally 3-5 days of hunting are enough to get a nice trophy," the
    website says in its advertisement, informing visitors that the cost
    of the package (which is not specified) does not include a license
    for hunting bears, mouflons and goats.

    Armenia allows hunting a number of animals such as foxes, wolves,
    wild boars and about 10 species of birds. The Ministry notes that
    every year they reveal 100 to 160 cases of poaching in the country,
    and through the fines imposed on the offenders for damaging wildlife
    the state budget annually gets an additional $30,000.

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