Azernews.Az

Thursday March 28 2024

“Impunity” of officials breeds resentment in Armenian society

11 October 2016 10:36 (UTC+04:00)
“Impunity” of officials breeds resentment in Armenian society

By Rashid Shirinov

Protests in Armenia's capital, Yerevan, over the government's failure to take effective measures to stop the economic crisis and ensure human rights have already turned into a tradition. And from time to time there are reported clashes between the people and police during the public protests.

This time, a group of residents from Sari Tagh district have held a protest in front of the National Assembly’s building, demanding the release of their relatives arrested after the July clashes with the police in the Armenian capital.

Before arrival to the Assembly, the protesters rallied in front of the building of Prosecutor's Office of Armenia, Epress.am reports.

The demonstrators were hoping to get an answer to a letter handed to Parliament ray Speaker Galust Sahakyan on September 26. The letter was signed by approximately 500 people.

“The campaign to collect signatures for the liberation of our guys was addressed to Galust Sahakyan, but we did not get a response. We have no time, we cannot wait, as the trial of the guys is scheduled for October 21. We are not simpletons!” Narine Ghazaryan, one of arrestee’s relatives, told Epress.am.

Another relative Lala Bernetsyan stated that they don’t link any hope with the court. She promised a consistent struggle for the liberation of the arrested citizens, adding that people will hold another protest in front of the Presidential office.

Nine inhabitants of Sari Tagh are accused of attacking police officers during the clashes of 19 July. Six police officers were named victims on the case. If the accusation is confirmed, all the nine residents will be arrested for 5-10 years.

The clash between Sari Tagh inhabitants and Armenian police occurred after an armed group Sasna Tsrer seized a police station in the Erebuni district of Yerevan. From the first day of the seizure, Armenian people started their protest actions against authorities by gathering on Yerevan’s streets.

Protests were held in the Sari Tagh district as well – part of the district became deenergized and deprived of water, and that was the cause of protests by local residents. Following the rally in Sari Tagh, the police brutally dispersed the protesters and arrested 165 people. Moreover, 73 citizens addressed medical institutions with injuries of varying degrees of severity.

The police attacked citizens with police batons and stun grenades, many people received serious wounds, but as a result, the government did not punish almost none from the police structures.

All this explains why the Armenian government is not taken seriously by the population, and why their resentment increases day by day.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz

Loading...
Latest See more