Category: 2022

The Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia is investigating a video which shows a police officer hitting an opposition protester in the head and face in Yerevan on Monday, its spokeswoman Arevik Khachatryan told Panorama.am.

The video went viral on social media, drawing strong condemnation from people.

The man was taking part in mass acts of civil disobedience launched by the Armenian opposition on Monday morning in a bid to oust Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet.

The footage clearly shows one of the police officers repeatedly hitting him in the face and head while detaining him. The policeman is taken away by other protesters.

The majority of Yerevan State University (YSU) students have boycotted classes, joining the anti-government protests in Yerevan, the opposition Hayastan alliance said on Monday.

“Today, on May 2, only 15% of YSU students attended classes,” the bloc said in a Facebook post.

The Armenian opposition began a large-scale civil disobedience campaign on Monday morning, blocking traffic throughout central Yerevan.

The opposition Homeland Party led by Artur Vanetsyan has denounced the violence and hate speech against journalists reporting on the peaceful anti-government protests in Yerevan.

In a statement on Monday, the party stated that the mass civil disobedience campaign launched in Yerevan and other parts of Armenia on Monday was met with “disproportionate and brutal force” by the incumbent authorities.

“The ruling regime, which is ready to “lower the bar” on issues concerning the security of Artsakh and Armenia, has raised the bar of repressions against its own citizens, unlawfully detaining hundreds of peaceful protesters, including dozens of Homeland Party members,” it said.

“The acts of violence and hate speech against members of the media reporting on the peaceful protests which have been ordered and carried out by some top officials are particularly noteworthy.

“The Homeland Party strongly condemns as unacceptable the unlawful steps of the ruling regime in Armenia,” the party said, drawing the attention of the international community and human rights groups to such incidents and urging law enforcement officers to defy the “illegal orders”.

It stressed that the nationwide movement “cannot be stopped and will definitely succeed.”

The incumbent Armenian authorities are “terrified” by the protest campaign launched by the opposition, claims Levon Kocharyan, the son of Armenia’s second President Robert Kocharyan.

On Monday morning, the country’s leading opposition groups began a large-scale civil disobedience campaign to oust Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet, blocking traffic in central Yerevan and other parts of the city.

“There is a large group of resolute patriots who are ready to save our country from the current pro-Turkish authorities,” Levon Kocharyan told reporters.

He called attention to the police brutality against protesters as well as the “insolent” behavior of some police officers.

“This indicates that the authorities are terrified and understand that the wave [of protests] is gaining traction. They [the authorities] might be ready to do anything, but I don’t think the police will take such a step. It also depends on the determination and the number of protesters. Experience shows that if they see a lot of people gathered, they take no action, and where there are relatively few people, they behave disrespectfully,” he said.

Kocharyan urged people to actively participate in the acts of civil disobedience.

“The more people join us, the less turmoil there will be. After all, we’re fighting for our country,” he said.