Yerevan marchers demand to "clear the ranks of the police"

Protesters in Yerevan have handed over an application to the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO), demanding to punish the policemen, who used force at dispersal of the demonstration on June 23.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that mass protests in Yerevan began after on June 17 the Commission on Regulation of Public Services of Armenia made a decision to increase the electricity tariff. At night on June 23, the police squeezed protesters from Bagramyan Avenue, using water cannons. Activists assert that 25 people addressed for medical help.

Today, about 200 marchers blocked Amiryan Street. Later, they unblocked the street and went to the building of the GPO, where they were met by a two-row police cordon and fencing.

According to Ara Karagezyan, the lawyer of the initiative group "No to robbery!", protesters will wait ten days, prescribed by the law, for the response from the GPO.

Maxim Sargsyan, a member of the group "No to robbery!", said that the policemen who used force should be dismissed, and that the protesters "will achieve the punishment of all those responsible."

Let us remind you that on July 3 the Special Investigating Service of Armenia announced that the use of force against demonstrators was excessive; and that a criminal case was opened in this context.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.