Municipality rejects another notification for rally
The Yerevan Municipality has rejected another opposition notification on holding a rally at Liberty Square on November 26.
On November 9, representative of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) Tigran Arakelyan submitted a notification for a planned rally to be held at the square on November 26.
Gagik Baghdasaryan, a senior representative of the Yerevan Municipality told A1+ that the municipality has offered the opposition to hold the event near the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Manuscripts as Liberty Square will host an exhibition on that day.
Earlier, the city authorities rejected opposition's notifications saying the rally would interfere with children's attractions.
Liberty Square has been closed down for the opposition after the bloody events of March 1, 2008. The square was turned into a construction site for a huge underground parking garage. After the construction, the square was reopened in May 2010 and immediately turned into a family playground with attractions for children.
Armenian Ombudsman agrees that the opposition's entry to the square is banned for different reasons but he does not see a legal solution to the problem.
"From the legal point of view, I see no violation, as the municipality cannot dismantle the attractions in an attempt to help an opposition rally," Armen Harutyunyan told A1+.
Since September 17, the city authorities have rejected opposition's 33 notifications for rallies for different reasons; saying that the square is busy and assigned to another event on that day and suggesting the opposition gather at some other place.
The Municipality has rejected for different reasons all the 33 notices submitted by the opposition.
Last week, HAK submitted a notice to the Mayor's Office with a proposal to inform the opposition about the days that would not cause inconveniences for holding mass events
