Epress.am News from Armenia
About 250 participants of the spontaneous sit-in protest against the latest hike in electricity prices in Armenia have spent the night at the Freedom Square, Maksim Sargsyan, one of the demonstrators, informed Epress.am.
There were no clashes with the police during the night, the activist said: the demonstrators sang, danced and talked till dawn. At around 9:00 AM they tried to build a shelter using cardboard boxes so that people could take refuge from the sun and rest; however, they were prevented by police.
“We did not want to get drawn into an argument, so we agreed not to build the shelter,” Sargsyan said.
Around 9:30 AM some of the demonstrators began to disperse: they went home to get some rest, and bring food, water, and clothes. They were soon replaced by newcomers at the Square.
The people, Maksim Sargsyan said, are staging an indefinite sit-in and do not intend to leave the Freedom Square as long as the decision of the RA Public Services Regulatory Commission to increase electricity tariff in Armenia by nearly 7 drams is not reversed by authorities.