As European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the government headquarters, dozens of people held a protest on the sidewalk opposite the building under the slogan "Free political prisoners."

Protesters were not allowed to approach the government building, and a large number of police officers were deployed to the area, according to Panorama.am .

Participants carried photographs of clergymen, political figures and public activists who are being held in penitentiary institutions or under house arrest, saying they had been imprisoned because of their political views and freedom of expression.

They also stressed that delayed justice is equivalent to denied justice and rejected what they described as attempts to establish authoritarian rule in Armenia.

During her meeting with Pashinyan in Yerevan, von der Leyen said that if Russia closes its market to Armenian products, the European Union will open its market of 450 million consumers to Armenian goods.