Epress.am News from Armenia
A large number of police officers at around 7:30 pm on Thursday followed Karabakh War veteran Susanna Margaryan to her home, with the intention of detaining her, after she brought a cat and mouse to a protest outside the government building. In a phone call to Epress.am, Margaryan said she is not preparing to open the door and is speaking to the police through the window of her first-floor apartment.
She said that speaking with her was Deputy Chief of Criminal Cases at Kentron Police Division Armen Aydinyan, to whom she said she would go to the police station the next day at noon. "Aydinyan in no way is accepting my remarks, constantly saying we'll take you now and release you in 12 minutes. But I'm not going to go, if they don't believe my words. Why should I believe them?" she said.
The number of officers increased around 9 pm, and joining them was Kentron Police Chief Vardan Gevorgyan, who also demanded she open the door. At around 10 pm, Margaryan agreed to go to the police station, but only after staff of the Armenian Human Rights Defender's office had arrived on the scene.
The latest update was provided by Margaryan at 11:58 pm, when she left the police station after she was slapped with an administrative fine of 20,000 AMD (about $48 USD). She said police officers explained to her that she was fined for "misuse of a restricted area".