Heavy Pressure: How a Protest Rally was Dispersed in Armenia
On the morning of June 23rd Yerevan police used force to disperse a crowd of protesters rallying against increased electricity costs, Armenia Today reported. The police were using water cannons and carrying protesters away from the street. A total of 237 people were detained and 11 policemen were injured, the Interior Ministry reports. Criminal cases were filed against a number of protesters.
The protest action started on June 22nd, on Bagramyan Avenue where the residence of the Armenian president, Serge Sargsyan, is located. The rally participants demanded that the president invalidate the decision to increase electricity costs. Valery Osipyan, deputy head of the Yerevan police, asked the organizers of the action to create a group of three activists to meet the president, but the protesters refused, Dozhd TV channel reported. The police condemned the protesters’ action as illegal and threatened to use force.
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