Epress.am News from Armenia
Video footage was released of the car rally by the Founding Parliament (Pre-Parliament) Movement on Saturday, where the 100 Years Without This Regime rally participants were beaten and their cars smashed by police of the unrecognized Republic of Nagorno-Karabakh and people wearing civilian clothes.
In the beginning of the video a police officer approaches a rally participant, askes for his documents and states it was “raid inspection.” Afterwards, the police and civilian clothed people began smashing the participants' cars with batons.
Press Spokesperson of the presidnet of Nagorno Karabakh Davit Babayan stated in an interview with Azatutyun that nearly 100 citizens, upset about the Founding Parliament car rally, gathered near the border to “not let the convoy enter Artsakh,” while the police created a barrier between them and the rally participants. According to Babayan, they requested the participants to go back, but they did not accept the request and “took steps which led to what happened.”
Babayan assumed that the Founding Parliament members “made provocations by cursing.”
“Pre-Parliament (the Founding Parliament’s previous name) organization’s protest found a negative reaction throughout all of Artsakh. The organizers were earlier informed about this on the highest level. They were told to refrain from such politics, such initiatives; they did not respond in any way to this.
Artsakh has nothing to do with inner political developments, regime change in the Republic of Armenia. Artsakh is an independent state, it doesn’t vote a for the President (in Armenia), not the Parliament, and not for the formation of any other institutions. And finally, slogans such as Artsakh is a province of Armenia etc, receive negative reactions in Artsakh, because we feel the enemy’s, Azerbaijan’s, influence every second,” said Babayan.