Epress.am News from Armenia
Thousands of Armenian protesters rallied in Freedom Square in central Yerevan on Tuesday evening, hours after a peaceful protest sit-in on Baghramyam Avenue was violently dispersed by Armenian police, resulting in numerous injuries and more than 200 arrests.
Subsequently, the protesters marched from the square toward the site of the previous demonstration, not far from the RA President Serzh Sargsyan's residence: however, they were once again blocked by law enforcement officers in riot gear.
The demonstrators responded by staging a sit-in for the second night in a row, dragging nearby trash cans to create a barricade.
As the night went on, the protesters were once again proposed by authorities to send a small delegation to meet with the President. They considered the offer briefly, but ultimately rejected it.
On Wednesday morning, protesters on Baghramyam Avenue declared that their demand remained the same – reversal of the decision to increase electricity rates in Armenia, and urged other citizens to come and replace those who had spent the night at the protest site.
The previous evening demonstrators were joined by several lawmakers, actors and entertainers. While on the morning of June 24, actor Hovhannes Azoyan came out to them and passed an offer of law enforcement officers to return to the Freedom Square. The protesters refused the offer, stating they were in a more “favorable position” on Baghramyam Avenue. Despite Azoyan's attempts to convince the people that a favorable position could be achieved in Freedom Square as well, the people refused to leave.
“Don't you send anyone else here!” they shouted to police.
Late on June 22, after a three-day sit-in at Freedom Square in central Yerevan, protesters against the rise in electricity rates in Armenia tried to march toward Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan’s office at 26 Baghramyan. However, hundreds of armed police officers, forming a barricade, closed the road, not allowing demonstrators to get any closer to the presidential palace. Protesters then sat in the middle of the road at the intersection of Baghramyan and Isahakyan streets, staging an impromptu sit-in outside the presidential office.