Clashes between police and population ongoing in Yerevan
By Rashid Shirinov
The situation in Yerevan gets worse in the background of the recent seizure of police building. The people detained on 18 July in Yerevan’s Freedom square were taken to a police station and severely beaten there.
“On July 17, in the police military unit 1033, people were kept in conditions of concentration camp. Everybody was put in one room and kept as prisoners of war,” Chairman of Union of Informed Citizens Daniel Ioannisyan told journalists. He also added that some detained were beaten and then brought back in the room.
Moreover, the Armenian police used strict torture with regard to some arrested persons. In particular, David Sanasaryan, member of "Hello, Yerevan" bloc, got a concussion while being carried to police station.
“These actions aim to suppress civic engagement through the use of brutal force, and no legal assessment can be there,” Chairman of the public organization "Protection of rights without borders" Haykuhi Harutyunyan said.
Four police officers were also injured during the clashes with protesters, opposition member of Parliament Nikol Pashinyan claimed. They were pelted with stones and taken to hospital then. “The situation is so complicated and intense that it is impossible to say anything more specific,” he said.
From the morning of July 17, a group of armed men seized the police station and took hostages demanding release of opposition activist Jirair Sefilyan, who was arrested nearly a month ago on charges of illegal possession of arms. The attackers also demand resignation of the Armenian president.
During the seizure, one Armenian police officer was killed and four were injured. Currently, four hostages are held in the building, including the deputy chief of Armenian police major-General Vardan Yeghiazaryan and the deputy chief of Yerevan police, Colonel Valeri Osipyan.
For the four days, several shots have been heard inside the building. Later, it turned out that they were fired into the air by the attackers as a protest to the police actions against the protesters. Both entry and exit of the police station’s territory are blocked for vehicles.
In short, the situation is heating up, and bloodshed will be not long in coming, Yerevan citizens claim.
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Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov
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