Epress.am News from Armenia
An Etchmiadzin family who has been protesting outside the presidential palace in Yerevan since Nov. 28 was today forcibly removed from the street. At around 6:15 am today, 15 men in civilian clothes approached Ashot Khudoyan, Heghine Makaryan and their 4 children, shoved them into a vehicle and drove off. Unidentified men picked up the couple and their three daughters but didn't notice the couple's 8-month-old son.
Emma Sahakyan, who has been protesting outside the president's residence for 1.5 years, described how the family was taken away.
Later, the same individuals returned and attempted to take the baby. Lala Aslikyan, another activist on the scene, asked the individuals to identify themselves, but they left without doing so. Police officers on duty outside the presidential palace on the opposite side of the street refused to intervene. Later, the child's mother, Heghine Makaryan, called Emma Sahakyan and asked her to give the child to the police officers in civilian clothing.
The family had been warned on Saturday that they would be removed on the day of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Armenia.
Included in the video below is footage shot by Lala Aslikyan on Saturday in which Khudoyan describes how they were threatened to be removed, as well as footage shot by Aslikyan this morning.
Later, Epress.am spoke with Heghine Makaryan, who said the family was taken to their home in the city of Etchmiadzin, which the police have surrounded and are not allowing them to leave.