Epress.am News from Armenia
16 Armenian citizens, among them – two reporters, who were injured on June 23 morning during the violent dispersal by the RA police of the peaceful demonstration on Baghramyan Avenue in Yerevan, have lodged an urgent appeal with the European Court of Human Rights, one of the applicants, coordinator of "Union of Informed Citizens" NGO Daniel Ioannisyan said in an interview with Epress.am.
Urgent appeals are provided for cases where there is a possibility of crime prevention; such applications allow to circumvent domestic courts. The complaint, Ioannisyan said, was lodged two days ago: the plaintiffs' testimonies, as well as facts about police use of excessive force against demonstrators have been presented as evidence.
“We have not received an answer yet; however, according to ECtHR procedure, the Court must have had already sent an inquiry to the Government of Armenia in connection with the June 23 events and the threat of recurrence of violence. As we can see, after the complaint, police have become cautious in their actions towards protesters. Thus, the government wants to refute our claim about the threat of recurrence of violence. This threat, however, is evidenced by photos of combat armored vehicles and water cannons presently located on Baghramyan Avenue and Demirchyan street, which have also been sent to the European Court of Human Rights,” Ioannisyan said.
