Baghramyan Avenue standoff: Deputy Chief of Yerevan Police looking for stones in dustbins
Protest against electricity price hike in Armenia continued on Baghramyan Avenue throughout the night, as the standoff between the demonstrators and police continued into Wednesday. The sides were divided by dustbins which the protesters used as a barricade to ‘shield’ themselves by riot police. Several lawmakers, actors, intellectuals, lawyers and other public figures had came to the venue during the night responding to opposition lawmaker Nikol Pashinyan’s call to create ‘a human wall’ between the sides to avoid further clashes. Deputy Chief of Yerevan Police Valeri Osipyan today announced that he had got information that the activists were hiding stones in the dustbins used as barricades on the street. Then he started looking for the stones in the smelly garbage but to no avail. In reply to A1+’s question whether he can be seen next time looking for arms in the dustbins, Mr Osipyan said it is not excluded if they receive information about hidden weapons. The situation is relatively calm on the avenue, with police weakening their cordon which means no clashes are possible in the coming hours.
