Epress.am News from Armenia
Today, in Gyumri, a car protest took place starting from 1pm whose participants are demanding that the murder of the six members of the Avetisyan family on January 12 be investigated by the Armenian authorities. Yesterday, it became clear that Russia will try the murder suspect Valery Permyakov.
Approximately 200 cars participated in the rally which moved towards the Russian Consulate building.
The car rally participants reached the consulate, parked, and exited their cars. The participants were strayed away from the consulate by police because, as it was stated, “today is a day of mourning and is no time for protesting”.
“We have one demand, that Permyakov be tried in Armenia,” stated one of the participants to the police.
The protesters later left the Russian Consulate and headed toward the governor’s office. Near the governor’s building, the Journalists’ Club Asparez President Levon Barseghyan stated that “yesterday, Armenia’s prosecutor said something disgraceful. He made citations from the Russian constitution. No one else can try him, that bastard must be tried in Armenia without any right of extradition, if of course he’s responsible.”
Afterwards, the rally continued toward the Shirak marz (province) prosecutor general building. The protesters were told that the General Prosecutor would release a statement at 4:30pm.
Protesters chanted “We are the owners of our country!”, while others responded chanting “Putin is the owner.”
The protesters waited until 4:30pm, however, they did not receive a response from the prosecutor. Instead, the police came and urged protesters to read the Armenian Prosecutor and Investigative Committee’s statements.
In the statements, read out online by Levon Barseghyan, is said that Armenia’s Prosecutor General is taking measures to ensure the inevitability of criminal responsibility for the crime. “Basically, this statement contains nothing new. The prosecutor is working as a press service worker for us. The answers to our demands are not here,” said Barseghyan.
The protesters began chanting “Shame, shame!”
Then the protesters began moving towards the 102-nd Russian military base, however, police created a blockade and halted movement toward the base. Protesters began yelling “Armenians have come against Armenians, to protect Russians”
Half of the group was able to pass through the barricade; however, many are still far away. Around 2,000 people have gathered near the military base.
The Shirak marz Prosecutor Raffi Aslanyan has arrived to the rally and urged the protesters to disperse. He claimed that their demand would continue to be on their agenda.
“I’ll leave and come back and inform you. Staying here (Russian base) is not going to help. It’s better if we go toward the prosecutor, police or wherever you like,” promised Aslanyan.
The protesters have not decided to leave the area and are currently in negotiations. Updates will be made soon.