Founding Parliament Suffered $35,000 Worth of Damages During the Attack Near NKR Border

The Founding Parliament initiative had planned to hold an outdoor press conference at the Republic Square on February 5th at 1pm to showcase the damages caused during the January 31st incident near the Nagorno-Karabakh border. The police, however, tried to prevent the press conference from taking place.

In an earlier released statement, the movement had stated that the police would try to impede the press conference at any cost.

“During the night the police, in advance, occupied the parking spots around the Republic Square, the location of the press conference, while at the moment they are not allowing the damaged cars to be parked in an alternative location, in front of the Central Bank. We are stating that the press conference will take place regardless of the police's actions,” said the statement.

The Police’s Press Service, in it's turn, reported that the police were restricting the outdoor press conference at the Republic Square.

Nevertheless, the movement went ahead with the press conference, during which Founding Parliament representative Varujan Avetisyan told the journalists that the Nagorno-Karabakh police, when attacking Founding Parliament members near the border of NKR, inflicted $35,000 worth of damage.

As a result of the police actions, 20 cars were damaged, 3 cameras belonging to the car rally participants were stolen. 

Varujan Avetisyan said that the damaged cars would be showcased on Alek Manukyan St. near their central office.

In regards to movement's initiative going to Nagorno-Karabakh, Avetisyan said that he considered Artsakh a province of Armenia and that whoever says Artsakh is an independent state is a traitor. 

According to him, the people of Artsakh have been speaking about joining Armenia since the 1988 movement, and even if due to political advisability it hasn't happened, it is still the final objective.

It was reported earlier that before the press conference even started, two members of the Founding Parliament, Gevorg Safaryan and Hayk Grigoryan, had been taken into custody at the Republic Square, while 3 of the damaged cars had been taken to an impound lot. Safaryan and Gevorgyan were later released in the afternoon.