Epress.am News from Armenia
Local public initiative “The Army in Reality” organized a march and rally today, asking to ensure transparency in court hearings of army cases. Demonstrators gathered near the government building and marched toward the presidential palace.
On the sidewalk across the street from the presidential palace, near Lovers’ Park on Baghramyan Ave., police approached demonstrators and asked them if they had any document they wished to pass on to the president. In response, mothers of soldiers killed during times of peace (who protest outside the government building every Thursday) said that the president has yet to respond to a letter dated Jan. 19 issued by Hasmik Hovhannisyan, mother of killed soldier Artak Nazaryan, though they were told they would receive a reply in a week’s time.
While demonstrators were speaking with police, other police officials were trying to get Nana Muradyan, mother of killed soldier Valery Muradyan, to move away from the presidential gates.
Nana Muradyan lost her cool after an office pushed her and snatched the poster with the photo of her deceased son from her hands, crumbled it up into a ball and threw it on the ground. To try to stop the altercation between Nana and about 10 officers, demonstrators tried to cross the street, but police prohibited them, saying they would be disrupting vehicle traffic.
“I will tolerate even if they hit me, but that they crumbled up my son’s photo — that I won’t forgive. I am contacting [RA Police Chief] Vova Gasparyan — they have to fire this officer from his job. They killed my child and now they want to kill me,” Nana wailed.
“Why aren’t the parents of conscripts participating in this demonstration? Until they realize this also refers to them… We’re fighting so that these murders don’t repeat — they won’t ever bring our children back,” said Anahit Mkrtchyan, mother of killed soldier Arayik Avetisyan.
