Activists to Police: Why are you elbowing and pushing citizens? /updated/ (video)
Police officers gathered at Liberty Square are not allowing the New Armenia opposition group to put up a large umbrella at the square though the activists have shown them the Municipality’s permission to conduct an awareness campaign there. “Do not talk to me with your hands, I know the laws (in Armenia),” a policeman told the group. “We are not erecting a tent, we are putting up an umbrella,” the activists said in reply. “The police are showing arbitrariness. We have the impression that the police are afraid of the campaign,” said Gagik Yeghiazaryan, a member of the Founding Parliament movement. The activists continually urged the police to act within the realm of their powers while the police said there had been ‘precedents of unlawful actions.’ “Why are you elbowing the citizens? If we speak about precedents, then police officers were to be shot dead long ago,” the activists said. “I officially announce that [the chief of the Armenian Police] Vladimir Gasparyan is a liar. He says they have reformed the police system but it is not so. Why do you prevent us from holding a campaign sanctioned by the Municipality?” the group said. Negotiations are continuing between the activists and the police. After long negotiations, the activists finally put up an umbrella at the square.
