Policemen prevented holding of peaceful demonstration and
tore map of Armenia and Artsakh, National Assembly deputy says
30-10-2009 22:00:00 | Armenia | Politics
YEREVAN, OCTOBER 30, NOYAN TAPAN. The member of "Heritage"
parliamentary faction Ms. Zarhui Postanjian sent official
letters about the October 29 crime to the Chief of the RA Police
Alik Sargsyan, RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepian, and the
RA Ombudsman Armen Harutyunian.
The letter reads:
"On 29 October 2009, I, Zaruhi Postanjian, and some other
Armenian citizens staged a protest against ratification of the
Armenia-Turkey protocols, outside the government building. We
also intended to show our disagreement with the idea that "the
interests of the Armenian World are different" expressed by
Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan at the National Assembly the day
before.
Unlike the other protest organized in the same place a week
ago, this time the illegal action of policemen consisted only in
the forming of a wall of policemen before us with the aim of
preventing the passers-by from seeing our placards. We failed to
hold the second part of the protest action which we planned to
stage in front of the presidential residence.
When the peaceful procession of about twenty demonstrators
reached the crossroads of Baghramian and Demirchian Streets,
some 25 persons in police uniform, who were led by a policeman
who introduced himself as a captain of Yerevan's Arabkir
district police unit, blocked our way.
The policemen did not know themselves under which law they
were impeding our movement. The only explanation they could
provide was that the president was holding an event and that
they did consider our movement as expedient.
We, the demonstrators, made an attempt to continue our
protest action in that place - on Baghramian Street. While we
we were singing and chanting, with placards in our hands, the
policemen started pushing us back and tore the map of Armenia
and Artsakh.
I inform the officials of RA police that we just exercise
our constitutional rights. The above mentioned actions of
policemen are in violation of the respective articles of the RA
Constitution and the RA Criminal Code. One should not get into a
panic because of peaceful demonstrators and their placards and
commit penal actions".