More freedom fighters return their medals (video)
Two more Karabak war veterans today returned their medals and awards as a sign of protest against the January 31 violence in Berdzor, Karabakh. Freedom fighters Aghavni Sahakyan and Varujan Avetisyan are today handed over 12 medals [they received for the bravery demonstrated during the Karabakh war] to Zhirayr Sefilyan, a Karabakh war veteran and a former commander of the Shushi special detachment. “I do not think that the acting authorities deserve to act in the name of Armenia and its people. I think the awards had better remain with legendary commander Zhirayr Sefilyan,” said Varujan Avetisyan, Spokesman for the Founding Parliament Movement. Freedom fighter Aghavni Sahakyan is offended that they [authorities] could raise a hand on the man who liberated the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. “By returning our medals we are expressing our protest and anger at the incident. I cannot take a stick and damage their cars as they did on January 31,” she said. On January 31, scores of activists representing the Founding Parliament opposition movement, a successor of the Pre-parliament pressure group, organized an automobile march to Nagorno-Karabakh as part of their campaign seeking a regime change in Armenia. Near Berdzor, they were stopped by local police and a group of plainclothes men who forcefully blocked their access to the territory of Karabakh. A number of activists, including Jirayr Sefilyan, a Karabakh war veteran and a former commander of the Shushi special detachment, were beaten up during the incident. Also, some vehicles of the automobile march were damaged.
