ARMENIAN OPPOSITION BUILDING BARRICADES IN CENTER OF YEREVAN
Interfax News Agency
Russia & CIS
March 1, 2008 Saturday
Russia
Supporters of former Armenian president Levon Ter-Petrosian, who
lost what he claims was a rigged presidential election, were building
barricades in the center of Yerevan on Saturday to shield themselves
from police trying to disperse them, an Interfax correspondent
reported.
At a rally on a square next to the mayor’s office that brought
together more than 10,000 people, speakers demanded the release of Ter-
Petrosian, who is allegedly under house arrest.
The leader of the Impeachment opposition group, Nikol Pashinian,
told the rally that the protesters have two key tasks, "to gather as
many people as possible" and "to finish building the barricades."
The leader of the Republic opposition party, Aram Sarkisian, added:
"We are all Ter-Petrosian’s soldiers and must fulfill his orders of
standing our ground here."
Ter-Petrosian’s campaign meanwhile issued a statement saying the
ex-president has been under illegal arrest since the moment the
previous rally was dispersed.
"Ter-Petrosian’s personal presence can alone calm down passions
and prevent further exacerbation of the situation. Unless he is
released immediately and is given a chance to address the rally,
it is President Robert Kocharian and Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan
who will be guilty of the further exacerbation of the situation and
bear the whole responsibility," the statement said.
Earlier on Saturday, Ter-Petrosian told a news conference in Yerevan
that he was not under house arrest currently, though he was not
allowed to leave his residence. "I have also been forbidden to have
any visitors but that ban has been lifted," he said.
Sargsyan won the February 19 presidential election, according to
official results.
Ter-Petrosian, Armenia’s first post-Soviet president, served from
1991 to 1998.