Epress.am News from Armenia
6։25pm: 17-year-old Melikset Mkrtchyan told us he had been subjected to violence at the police station while in detention. According to the young man, police officers hit him in the ribs and demanded that he did not participate in the protests. Mkrtchyan had earlier taken part in the demonstration on the central Gyumri square; he had been detained while on his way home.
5:35pm: 17-year-old Robert Avalyan was among those detained from the central square. The youth told us that he had been told by the police chief at the station that he should go home immediately after he was released; otherwise, according to Avalyan, the chief promised to detain him and keep at the station indefinitely.
4։35pm: Three Gyumri residents were detained from the city’s central square at around 3pm. Plainclothes police officers took them to the Kumayri police station. Other demonstrators are waiting by a nearby theater until the 3-hour detention period is up.
Several dozen people, mainly school children, have gathered since Wednesday morning outside the building of the Shirak administration in Gyumri. Nearly 40 police officers are guarding the area and preventing anyone from approaching or entering the building.
About an hour ago, it was reported that plainclothes officers had detained 17-year-old Arman Gevorgyan on his way to the administration building and taken him to a police station. Our correspondent in Gyumri has learned that Gevorgyan has already been released.
Shirak governor Artur Khachatryan came out to the protesters at some point and announced that he had personally ordered the police to block the entrance to the building. Khachatryan, however, failed to cite any law that would allow him to give out such orders. The official went ahead to urge the minors not to get involved in political activities.
The protesters informed us that Gyumri school administration representatives had called upon parents to not allow their kids to take part in the protests. Those gathered outside the Shirak administration are currently marching towards several schools to join their friends who are being held inside against their will.
Updates to follow.