Yesterday in Yerevan after the 20-day emergency state a group of RA citizens tried to commemorate the victims of March 1-2 by lighting candles in the Liberty Square. Despite the fact that the emergency state was over the Liberty Square remained surrounded by police and dozens of police vehicles. Liberty Square, guarded by army soldiers throughout the state of emergency, was occupied by busloads of police and interior troops as pockets of opposition supporters, most of them women, began gathering just outside it at around 3 p.m. local time. Senior police officers told them to leave the sprawling area and cross the streets surrounding it, citing a continuing government ban on rallies. The policeman with truncheons, electroshocks and shields were trying to hinder the citizens from lighting candles. People started to light candles near Arno Babajanyan’s statue. Here Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s wife Lyudmila Sargsyan was present. Besides candles and black laces many of the gathered people had photographs of many of the detainees. The police kept moving forward with shields till they pushed thousands of people to Tumanyan street. The number of policemen was considerably higher than of the protestors, however more protesters gathered soon. The policemen were mainly respectful to people. Of course they were talking to people, answering questions. However, there were also impolite and rude policemen, who were trying to tease the citizens. One of them got so outrageous that tried to attack a young man, who in order to avoid the kick ran to Babajanyan’s statue and from there to the front side of the street. The policemen ran after him, pulled him on the ground and attacked him with an electroshock and started to hit him. Only after mediation the policeman was taken away but it wasn’t so easy. For a moment there was collision between the police and citizens but it was possible to settle the situation down. The police pushed the gathered people to the Northern Avenue. Deputy Chief of Police Alexander Afyan and the head of Yerevan department of police Nerses Nazaryan were also at the scene. As we noticed the mentioned officers were quite polite and respectful to the protesters. Shortly afterwards, the crowd, lacking any visible organizers, walked down the newly built boulevard to the city’s main Republic Square and on to the street junction outside the Yerevan municipality, the site of the March 1 clashes. A granite pedestal from which opposition leaders spoke on that day was surrounded by riot police. The protesters then marched back toward Liberty Square via another Yerevan thoroughfare only to be confronted by more numerous police units. They dispersed after a brief clash with security forces using truncheons and electric-shock guns. It was not clear how many opposition supporters were detained in the process. At 5:00 pm about thousands of oppositionists continued walking along the footway of Mashtots Avenue silently. However, not far from the building of the Mother and Child Health Research Center, soldiers of the internal troops stopped the way of the silent action participants, who cry out no slogans, and ordered them to disperse immediately. As a result, some of the oppositionists went over to the other pavement across Mashtots Avenue, and this slightly made the traffic difficult. At the moment, the police are trying to maintain the action participants divided into two parts, demanding to stop the procession. The oppositionists insist that they are not holding a procession. The internal troops’ soldiers armed with batons and metallic shields are literally tailing along and trying to divide them in smaller groups. Little scuffles take place now and then. Participants in the action are slowly walking towards the Republic Square accompanied by policemen. There are no clashes between them. Their final point is a park between Shahumyan Square and the monument to Aleksandr Myasnikyan, where the dramatic events of 1 March started. On the way the protestors stood in line in front of the Foreign Affairs Ministry of RA by holding lit candles, flowers and photos of detainees. The government building of Armenia was also surrounded by policemen. Stepan Shahumyan’s statue was also surrounded. Myasnikyan’s statue was so tightly controlled by the police that the protestors didn’t even have the opportunity to approach the statue and put flowers. The number of policemen was gradually increasing. New groups were arriving from the corner of the French Embassy. The people put the candles and flowers on the nearby tiles. The policemen were mainly polite and kind to the protestors near the Italian and French embassies. Many of them were just persuading people to leave. Around 7:00 pm, the supporters of the opposition, who held a number of mourning actions dedicated to the memory of March 1 tragic events’ victims today, finished their silent procession in Mashtots Avenue under the pressure of the police and the soldiers of internal troops. Near the Mother and Child Health Research Center the policeman and soldiers armed with batons and shields surrounded the opposition supporters and divided them into several groups. Squabbles took place now and then, during which the oppositionists were trying to say that they were just walking up the pavement without crying out any slogans. However, the policemen demanded through a megaphone that the action participants should stop the procession. The police didn’t allow them to stay on the footway of Mashtots Avenue. As a result, the action participants gradually dispersed, however, several people were detained and they were taken to an unknown direction with police cars. By the way, during yesterday’s action there were quite many video cameras used. Some people with police uniform were also filming the mourners.
