Epress.am News from Armenia
Five members of the group fighting against the government-planned abolishment of the military draft deferments for students have gone on an open-ended strike in one of the auditoriums of a Yerevan State University sub-building. The protesters refuse to open the door or even let in other students who’d like to join the strike.
“Our main complaint is that even after the students’ protest movement, the National Assembly refused to let the students in on the discussions [around the amendments bill] and make their voices heard. And now the bill will be put to a vote without and changes. In addition, we’re trying to show that each and every citizen has to have the conviction that they they are capable of making an impact with their voice. The indifference within the society has been hard to watch; we want to somehow play a role in breaking this wall of indifference,” Davit Petrosyan, one of the hunger-striking students, told an Azatutyun.am reporter from behind the closed door.
The protesters have promised to end the hunger strike on the condition that the National Assembly today votes against the amendments to the Armenian law on military duty and conscription.
Recall, under a Defense Ministry-drafted bill preliminarily passed by the Armenian National Assembly in late October, draft deferments would only be granted to those students who will enter into an agreement with the Defense Ministry to serve in the armed forces as contract officers for 3 years after graduation.