Police break up protest in Yerevan

Armenian police have broken up a rally on Baghramyan Avenue. “We are currently trying to find out the exact number of detainees and the place they were taken to. Afterwards, we will decide on our further activities,” RIA Novosti cited one of the leaders of the protesters, Maxim Sargsyan, as saying.

At 13:40 the police began removing the barricades and dumpsters. This process was accompanied by disapproving exclamations from a few dozen participants and lasted 10 minutes.

The police split the ranks of the protesters and began detaining those who resisted. They were placed in a police van.

Traffic on Baghramyan Avenue has been restored and the sidewalks are still guarded by police, who are not allowing the protesters to return to the roadway. There are about 200 policemen on Baghramyan Avenue.

However, the police announced that the actions of law-enforcement officers will not be directed at stopping the protest, as long as it does not continue on the roadway.

At the same time, a deputy chief of the Yerevan city police, Valery Osipyan, said that all those detained will be released soon and they will not be prosecuted. 

The vice president of the ANC, Levon Zurabyan, told Vestnik Kavkaza that this time the cause of the "cleansing" of Baghramyan Avenue is protesters' fundamental unwillingness to politicize their rally. "This is the main problem, as a result there are very few people there, and the police did not disperse, they carried demonstrators to the police stations. Of course, this does not solve the problem, because the conflict was not on Baghramyan Avenue, it is wider – it is the conflict between the Armenian society and the regime. As long as Armenia doesn't have a government elected by the people and accountable to the people, while there is corruption, the conflict will continue," he said.

The politician noted that the rally itself was the victim of a split among the demonstrators. "It has been unclear who is organizing it, because the initiative group 'No to Robbery!', which has organized everything, lost contact with the participants of the action. And the new leaders have not been able to find the main method which could bring people together. But this is still a temporary solution by the authorities, people won't stop demanding that electricity prices return to previous levels. Also, people want to get rid of corruption in Armenia, so that today's events on Baghramyan Avenue are a small episode in the great struggle," the vice-chairman of the ANC expressed confidence.