Third night of electricity hike rally quiet in Yerevan

 June 25, 2015 - 12:48 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Participants of a rally against electricity tariff hike spent the third night at Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan. The night passed quietly, law enforcement bodies taking no action against the demonstrators, Novosti-Armenia reports.

Chief of Police of Armenia, Vladimir Gasparyan arrived at the scene of the campaign at night to inspect the situation. According to Deputy Chief of Yerevan Police Valery Osipyan, Gasparyan was satisfied with the work of the police.

A coordinating group member, Vaghinak Shushanyan said that Gasparyan assured that the police are not going to take measures against the protesters, calling on them to not politicize the issue. Shushanyan also noted that the Chief of Police declared his support for the demonstrators.

In the evening of June 24, protesters warned the police against possible provocations. Having seen iron rods and batons on the street adjacent to Baghramyan Avenue, protesters photographed them and passed the pictures to the police.

Members of the initiative "No to Plunder" handed out photos of police officers in civilian clothing, who used violence against protesters to disperse a peaceful rally. The rally participants burnt and trampled the photos afterwards and demanded that those officers immediately leave the ranks of the demonstrators and join their colleagues.

Deputy Chief of Police, Hunan Poghosyan said the night before instigators were present among the rally participants. "Detaining such people in this crowd would mean a new provocation," he said, adding that the police encouraged the organizers of the picket to eexpel the instigators from their ranks, Panorama.am reports.

Poghosyan noted a problem with managing the situation as some people do not comply with requirements of mutual respect. According to him, the police are in compliance with all agreements, unlike a substantial part of the protesters.

Pogosyan said that the police won’t fulfill their legal right to use force, unless the protest action is peaceful.