PROTESTING MOTHER OF DEAD SOLDIER FAINTED AFTER POLICE AGGRESSION

02.11.2015 17:29 epress.am

Today, at around 1:40 PM the parents of soldiers who died during
peacetime were subject to violence by police in front of the
Presidential Palace.

The protest participants wished to be informed as to why their letter
addressed to the President sent on November 27 was left unanswered
by the Presidential Palace. At the beginning of the protest the
parents were standing in front of the presidential gates when police
demanded they move across the street. “Our patience has a limit,”
said a police officer.

When the parents refused to meet the demand, one of the police officers
ordered a barricade to be formed. The police called each other to
rush and began pushing the parents. The police officers held Gohar
Sargsyan, the mother of soldier Tigran Ohanjanyan who died in 2007,
by her feet and arms and moved her across the street. Gohar Sargsyan’s
husband Suren Ohanjanyan, who was laying on the ground as a sign of
protest, was also carried across the street.

After police violently moved Gohar Sargsyan, the latter’s blood
pressure had skyrocketed and she fainted. The police called an
ambulance. Sargsyan received medical treatment; her clothes and shoes
were damaged as a result of the police actions.

Members of the Ombudsman office’s quick response team led by Rafael
Poghosyan arrived on the scene. The eyewitnesses present during the
incident explained what had happened.

The representatives of the Ombudsman’s office asked for clarifications
from the police coordinator Arabkir deputy department head Gagik
Hakobyan, who said that the Presidential Palace is a specially
protected zone and demonstrations in front of it are not allowed.

The parents stressed that they have held multiple protests in front
of the Presidential Palace before. They are ready to go to court in
relation to the actions of the police.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress