Vardges Gaspari's Seating Protest May Turn into All-Day-Round Campaign

Photo by Gagik Shamshyan

Armenian opposing representatives clashed on May 28 with the police on the recently re-opened Azatutyun Square near the Opera House in centre of Yerevan.

The campaigners - former political prisoner Vardges Gaspari and a group of youth from the Armenian National Congress (HAK) - were protesting against violation of human rights in the country, namely in the army, against torture towards political prisoners in penitentiaries, as well as for the re-opening of the A1+ TV Channel.

The police, together with red berets intervened, demanding them to stop the protest and to leave the Square, but the campaigners showed opposition. Convinced that the oppositionists are unsubmissive, the police and the red berets started using force to make them abandon the scene. They even spun the hands of Vladimir Karapetyan, foreign relation officer of HAK, while removing him from the Square.

In an attempt to protest against the actions of the law enforcement bodies Vardges Gaspari lied down on the ground, holding a paper that read "1+1+1…," later joined by some young female activists. The police scuffled for a moment, but yielded later.
Vardges Gaspari said he would go on a seating protest on Azatutyun Square at 6 pm Saturday.

Tigran Arakelyan, a HAK member, told Tert.am that they are going to hold a few precautionary seating protest for a few days after which the seating protest may turn into an all-day-round campaign, adding that it is not HAK's decision but rather that of Gaspari.

Arakelyan also mentioned that the police officers would not explain why they were demanding the protesters to leave the Square, but rather saying to go and continue the protest near the statue of Martiros Saryan - a few meters from Azatutyun Square.

Azatutyun Square was traditionally used as a site for assembly before it was shut down for an underground parking slot in 2008 following the notorious March 1-2 clashes between rioters and police, leaving 8 people dead and many injured.