Epress.am News from Armenia
A group women from Yerevan's Sari Tagh neighbourhood again gathered today outside the National Assembly building to demand that their relatives be released under an amnesty.
Note, that nine Sari Tagh men are facing charges for allegedly committing violence against law enforcement officers during the clashes that occurred in the neighbourhood on July 19, the second day of the stand-off in the nearby police headquarters in Yerevan's Erebuni district; if convicted, they could face up to 10 years in prison.
During their previous demonstration on September 26, the women had left a petition letter – signed by nearly 500 people – at the parliament citizen and letter reception office addressed to National Assembly speaker Galust Sahakyan. Today, however, they were told by the reception staff that the letter has yet to be responded to.
“The petition, which demanded that our guys be released, was addressed to Galust Sahakyan, but he has not yet responded to it. [The reception staff] say that there is still time: petitions are typically replied to within a month. But we don't have time and we can't afford to wait any longer – the guys' trial is on October 21. We are not fools, and we have no time to spare,” protester Narine Ghazaryan told Epress.am.
Demonstrator Lala Bernetsyan, for her part, said that before gathering outside the National Assembly, the group of women had gone to the office of Armenia's general prosecutor with the same demand. “All they could do, they said, was to ensure that arrestees with health issues received appropriate medication, while charges against them could only be dismissed in court. We don't hold out much hope though,” Bernetsyan stated, adding that the group's next step would be to stage a demonstration outside the presidential residence.