Eight people were killed and 120 to 200 injured past weekend in Armenia’s capital Erevan during the dispersal of the opposition demonstration and the following street riots. The government declared a state of emergency in the city.
Photo: Dmitry Lebedev
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Election Sealed by Blood
Eight people were killed and 120 to 200 injured past weekend in Armenia’s capital Erevan during the dispersal of the opposition demonstration and the following street riots. The government declared a state of emergency in the city.
The square near the Opera Theater was encircled the police early Saturday. The officers needed 10 minutes to break up the 10-day sit-in of the opposition protesting against election of Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisyan to replace Robert Kocharyan as Armenia’s president.
Meanwhile, the people were gathering again near the encircled square, this time at the Mashtots and Tumanyan crossroad, moving towards the French Embassy afterwards. They filled all Myasnikyan Square, where the windows of French Embassy, Italian Embassy, the House of Moscow and Erevan City Hall look out. The riot police cordoned off this square in an hour but the mob blocked officers, pushing them to the City Hall in a phantom victory.
No leader of the opposition was at the square that time. The people were waiting for Levon Ter-Petrosyan, but he was under the house arrest, his representatives said.
At least 100,000 closed the ranks at the small square when Nikol Pashinyan from the opposition showed up to urge the crowd to wait for Ter-Petrosyan. To no avail though, the former president never appeared at that square that day. At around 9:00 p.m., a group of officers attempted to break up protestors from Mashtots Street, but the division was so small in number that the mere effort looked at least strange.
Having swallowed the first group of riot police, the encouraged mob opposed the next one. The shots were heard and victorious youth chased the police to Mashtots and Proshyan crossroad. The violent riots erupted.
Late at night, Robert Kocharyan declared the state of emergency for twenty days. The parliament voted nearly unanimously for that decision at the extraordinary sitting to sanction the army and police to use force and crush the riots. At 3:00 a.m., Levon Ter-Petrosyan urged the supporters to leave the square, warning that authorities would shed blood. A few thousand obeyed nearly simultaneously. Reinforced by armored vehicles, the riot police cleared the square from the remaining at 4:30 a.m.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Mar. 03, 2008
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