Why Do Police Become So Enraged When They See Heritage Party MPs?

Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) MP Hamlet Harutyunyan, speaking at a press conference in Yerevan today, considers the incident outside the government building during a protest on Mar. 3 to be an unpleasant and undesirable phenomenon.

Recall, on Mar. 3, clashes erupted between police and protestors, notably including Heritage Party MPs Zaruhi Postanjyan, Armen Martirosyan and Anahit Bakhshyan, during a demonstration against the ban on street trade in Yerevan.

“I think that the details connected to this incident are still being clarified, and I’m convinced there will be an adequate response.

Heritage Party MP Stepan (Styopa) Safaryan, also at the press conference, ruled out the possibility of aggression being two-sided and said they’ll be submitting an appeal in court today, demanding an investigation into the events of Mar. 3 and the guilty be punished.

“On the basis of all these incidents, on the basis of this impunity, is RA Police Chief Alik Sargsyan’s 2010 press conference in which he said that even so much as a revolutionary thought will be stifled in the cradle,” he said.

Harutyunyan, in turn, said he was convinced that it’s Heritage itself that incites such clashes.

“I can’t understand how such local clashes happen when, for example, HAK rallies are held without any incidents. There are hundreds of thousands of people, but there are no incidents, while there are clashes connected to Heritage. Perhaps this is very well organized, I don’t know, maybe by outside forces,” said the HHK deputy, to whom in response, Safarian presented in detail the sequence of events.

“I don’t understand why police become so enraged when they see Heritage [Party] MPs, as a bull sees something that’s red,” concluded Safaryan.