Following orders or without Margaryan’s knowing?
The Armenian National Congress made a statement.
"The attempts of the authorities to create obstacles in the first week of the campaign did not weaken the Armenian National Congress's campaign and resonance from the society. The regime has decided to take another desperate step to prevent the next rally to be held in the Avan district on May 13.
On May 10, a group of bandits attacked women followers of the Armenian National Congress who were handing out flyers about the rally to be held. The incident took place near the district council building and two other public places. During the attack there were curses and physical abuse.
The group of men demanded the women to hand over the materials and never come to the Avan district again, declaring that "Taron is the owner of Avan" and "Whoever is against Taron is..." These expressions are not by chance; they are the orders dictated from "above" and used professionally by the "subordinates". The bandit regime views Yerevan, the country and its people as feudal parts that they have distributed among themselves and this is humiliating for citizens of Yerevan and Armenia.
The bandit group was headed by head of the youth wing of the Avan territorial organization of the Republican Party and NA Deputy Vazgen Karakhanyan's son.
On May 11, dozens of bandits came out of the Avan headquarters of the Republican Party and attacked Congress members and followers who were distributing flyers. The police made it to the scene 35 minutes later when Congress representatives managed to move the bandits away. However, before that the bandits had physically injured three women and they had been transferred to the hospital.
We believe that head of the Avan district, district head candidate Taron Margaryan will make a public announcement stating whether the bandits are following his orders or without his knowing it. If Margaryan knows about it, he is the one heading the bandit groups. If not, then he is not the real district head of Avan and the situation in Avan is not under his control. RA Chief of Police Alik Sargsyan has his share of the blame.
Some policemen led by him are patrolling the streets day and night, while the others are working with the bandits and promoting the violence. We believe that the residents of Avan will draw conclusions and understand that depriving the right to establish contacts with other political parties, hearing them out and being informed is humiliating and is a blow to human dignity.
On the occasion of the incidents on May 10, the Armenian National Congress has appealed to the RA Prosecutor General's office and the RA Police to instigate a case by Articles 149, 258 and 217 of the RA Criminal Code. The Congress has also notified the RA Ombudsman. Prosecutors have arrived to the scene after the incidents of May 11 and have instigated a criminal case.
The Armenian National Congress assures the people of Yerevan and Armenia that the bandit regime shows that it is politically weak and that it can only rely on average hooligans. There will be many people coming to our rallies in Avan and other districts of Yerevan. We call on residents of Avan to participate in the Armenian National Congress's rally to be held on May 13 at 6:30 p.m. near the "STAR" supermarket in response to the insults and blows to human dignity," as stated in the ANC statement.
