Epress.am News from Armenia
At around 6 pm yesterday, Heritage Party members wanted to erect a canopy made of tarp in Liberty Square, where party leader Raffi Hovannisian has been staging a hunger strike since Mar. 15. The police in Liberty Square, however, prohibited the act. A clash between party members, supporters and police resulted in police tearing the fabric and breaking the canopy poles.
Speaking to Epress.am, Heritage Party MP Larisa Alaverdyan described how police seized the broken canopy and she, following them, arrived at the Mashtots Ave. entrance to Liberty Square, drew up a chair and sat down, holding the broken canopy to her.
Alaverdyan then announced that she won’t move until a high-ranking police official comes and explains on what grounds they have not been allowed to erect the canopy and why officers broke another person’s property.
“I have to repeat everything that Yerevan police chief Mr. Nersik Nazaryan told me over the phone. He said, yes, we don’t have a law which I can substantiate, but we won’t allow it. That is, legally it’s not prohibited in our legislation, but not permitting it is being characterized simply as self-will. I am a citizen of this country; I want to understand: who, without any legal basis, ordered to tear the canopy in such a brutal way, leading to material damage. I have to have that written command so that I can dispute its constitutionality and legislation in court. It’s possible that in Armenia the time has come when this is the norm,” she said.
Note, about two hours after the incident, an investigator came to Liberty Square and handed a written account of the incident to Alaverdyan, which police have kept a record of.