EU envoy, Armenia MP talk Yerevan hostage situation

PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of the European Union’s delegation to Armenia Piotr Switalski on Monday, July 18 met with member of the Civil Contract party, MP Nikol Pashinyan to address the situation created in the wake of the seizure of a police department in Yerevan.

A group of armed people stormed a police HQ in Yerevan and took everyone inside hostage. The gunmen are members of the Sasna Tsrer movement. One police officer was killed, and three more were wounded in a shootout that broke as the members of the group hit the gates of the police department with a Ural track. Five captives have been set free so far. The group demand the release of Jirair Sefilian, the founder of the Founding Parliament who was arrested on June 20, as he and a group of people had planned to seize premises and communication facilities, including the Yerevan TV tower.

At the meeting, the parties dicussed ways of overcoming the situation, Pashinyan said in a Facebook post.

“Also, we talked about the development of democracy in Armenia and the international processes around it,” the MP said.