One dead, several injured as opposition group storms police building in Yerevan

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One police officer was killed and two others wounded early on Sunday when an armed opposition group stormed a police station in Yerevan demanding the release of Jirayr Sefilyan, a jailed opposition leader and Artsakh War veteran arrested last month for illegal arms trafficking and possession. They seized the building and continue to keep several hostages in it. Yerevan Police Chief Valery Osipyan  and Deputy Police Chief Vardan Yeghiazaryan are among the hostages. The group calling itself Sasna Dzrer (Daredevils of Sasoun), has announced that the storming of the police station is the start of an armed uprising in Armenia. They called on Armenians to join in the initiative. The Armenian authorities warned the gunmen to surrender themselves and rejected their demands to free Sefilyan. “The police and other law-enforcement bodies are continuing to urge them to give up their criminal plans and to surrender themselves to the authorities,” General Hunan Poghosyan, First Deputy chief of the Armenian Police said. At the same time Poghosyan confirmed that one police officer was killed and several others were wounded during the unprecedented armed attack. He identified the victim as Colonel Artur Vanoyan. Another colonel is among the wounded officers, he said. “We are capable of neutralizing them. You can’t deal with murderers otherwise,” Poghosyan added. In the meantime, in a video address, Pavel Manukyan, one of the armed group members that seized the Erebuni Police Station, said they demand the release of various individuals, including Jirayr Sefilyan and other ‘political prisoners.’ In the video, the gunmen say they will not hand themselves over without a fight. Hunan Poghosyan again spoke to journalists at the scene later in the day. He said that anti-terrorism forces deployed around the seized police station have not yet received an order to attack it because the negotiations are underway. “We just don’t want more bloodshed and are again urging them to surrender to the authorities,” he said. Serzh Sargsyan held an emergency meeting with the country’s top law-enforcement officials on Sunday hours after the attack. The meeting participants discussed the seizure of the police building and efforts by the law enforcement agencies to free the police officers held as hostages there. Also, Armenian Ombudsman’s Office said on Sunday that it had received numerous reports of people being detained by the police after the seizure of the police station. The Ombudsman’s Office said its staffers are following up the developments and have visited several of those held at police stations. At present, the police building continues to remain in the hands of the group affiliated with the radical opposition movement Founding Parliament. More police forces are seen arriving in the street which is blocked by police officers. Two buses arrived at the scene at around 8:00 p.m., bringing about 50-60 policemen. Also three KAMAZ trucks came up to the police compound but it was not clear what they were carrying. Also, the traffic is suspended for an indefinite time in several streets of the Armenian capital.