ARMENIAN OPPOSITION ENDS PROTEST AFTER STATE OF EMERGENCY DECLARED
Hurriyet
March 2 2008
Turkey
Armenia’s opposition ended a standoff with riot police in the capital
Yerevan on Sunday after the government declared a state of emergency
and mobilised the army in response to the worst unrest in a decade,
Reuters reported. Violent clashes killed 8 protesters and left 33
police injured.
Authorities imposed a state of emergency late Saturday following
clashes between riot police and protesters that also left 33 police
injured. A spokeswoman for the foreign ministry told AFP, seven
civilians and one police officer had been killed. One police officer
was in critical condition and 17 had been hospitalised for gunshot
wounds, she said.
"The police are calling on all citizens to be careful, to hold
back and to obey all the rules of the state of emergency," a police
statement read. A dozen armoured personnel carriers and about 100
soldiers stood guard outside the main government building and foreign
ministry. Several tanks could be seen at the scene of the nighttime
clashes.
The last protestors dispersed during the night, but burnt-out cars,
stones and poles still littered the streets. The city was calm Sunday
and shops and cafes around Yerevan were open as residents walked and
examined the damage done overnight.
The state of emergency will be in effect in the capital until March
20 under a decree signed by President Robert Kocharian. The state of
emergency bans public demonstrations and requires the media to only
publish or broadcast information from government sources. Armenias
National Assembly voted overnight to support the measure and called
in a decree for "wisdom and restraint… so that life in the country
can return quickly to normal."
The violence began early Saturday when riot police cleared a
central square where protestors had been camped since a February 19
presidential election won by Kocharians ally, Prime Minister Serzh
Sarkisian. The runner-up, opposition leader Levon Ter-Petrosian,
said he had been placed under house arrest, although the government
denied this. Between 6,000 and 8,000 demonstrators quickly regrouped
in another square. When police tried to disperse them after nightfall
the protestors fought back with petrol bombs, sticks and stones.
Police used tear gas and fired live ammunition into the air.
Protestors finally left the streets after an appeal by their leaders.
A police spokesman said eight police officers had suffered gunshot
wounds during the unrest and that several were in a serious
condition. Several protesters could be seen with head injuries and
burns, but there was no official information on casualties among
the demonstrators.
Ter-Petrosians spokesman blamed authorities for the unrest. "The
authorities are entirely responsible for these clashes," spokesman
Arman Musinian said. "We said that for the situation to be resolved
peacefully it was necessary for Levon Ter-Petrosian to be able to
speak with his supporters."
The protesters had massed in Yerevan Saturday for an 11th consecutive
day protesting alleged rigging of the presidential vote — which
Europes main election monitoring organisation said "mostly" met
international standards.
In a statement Saturday, the current chairman of the Organisation for
Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Finnish Foreign Minister
Ilkka Kanerva, condemned the use of force against demonstrators.
Official results gave 52.9 percent of the vote to Sarkisian and 21.5
percent to Ter-Petrosian.