Long-Waited Response by Human Rights Defender

Armenia’s Human Rights Defender Armen Harutyunyan issued a statement in relation to the repeated incidents in the vicinity of the recently re-opened Azatutyun (Liberty) Square near the Opera House in downtown Yerevan.

Earlier young activists of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) and other opposition representatives attempted to enter the Azatutyun Square but the police blocked their way saying they were violating public order.

The statement says that ombudsman’s office reacted promptly to the incidents that saw some oppositionists, as well as journalists, taken to the police and released only after a few hours’ detention. Particularly, the Human Rights Office sent its representatives to the Kentron Police station that met both with the policemen and with those detained.

Armen Harutyunyan urges on the Armenian citizens to avoid violating public order and respect others’ rights, freedoms and dignity.

Further he calls on the police to strictly follow the requirements of the law, avoid restricting citizens’ right to peaceful assembly without weapons, to be based only on the well-grounded and undeniable evidence.