Epress.am News from Armenia
On Wednesday, May 13, a group of police officers used violence to pull the parents of soldiers who died in the Armenian army in non-combat conditions away from the gates of the Residence of the RA President; the parents had organized a protest action, demanding a meeting with Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan.
Note that the parents have been prohibited from holding demonstrations in front of the presidential residence since February 11, 2015, when law enforcement officers forcibly removed the mothers from in front of the gates. The protesting parents have since tried several times to approach the residence but met heavy resistance from police.
Today, the police officers were surprised to see the parents in front of the gates of the residence; they formed a barricade behind the parents and started making phone calls. Afterwards, they forcibly moved the parents across the street. One of the officers, a senior lieutenant by rank, pulled and pushed Nana Muradyan, mother of Valery Muradyan who died in the Army in 2010, then – Irina Ghazaryan, mother of Artur Ghazaryan who died in the same year, moving the women to the opposite side of the street.
Meanwhile, the police provoked the mothers: they discreetly hit them, squeezing their arms and torso, and when the parents tried to defend themselves, the law enforcement officers loudly demanded "not to hit the police."
When on the opposite sidewalk, one of the officers said that the mothers came to "make a show", which aroused the indignation of the protesters. Later, the mothers went to the police for referral to a forensic expert.