Despite the violent crackdown of their overnight protest, as well as dozens of injured and scores of detained among them, Armenian activists who have been campaigning against rising electricity prices turned out in even larger numbers on the evening of June 23 for a fresh rally in central Yerevan.
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No force or water cannons were used Tuesday night, though protesters made yet another attempt to reach the presidential building.
The protesters then sat on the road to block traffic, before officers moved in to disperse them early on Tuesday morning.
The unrest is the most serious that Armenia has seen in years, raising concerns about political stability in the impoverished ex- Soviet nation, which has become increasingly dependent on Russian Federation in recent years.
“Armenia is our closest partner, we share historical ties with Armenia and the Armenian people,” Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted Tuesday.
The USA Embassy in Armenia said it was concerned by police violence and called for a “full and transparent investigation”. Armenia hosts a Russian military base and a Russian company runs its power distribution network. The protest was triggered when an Armenian government commission agreed to raise electricity rates at the request of the power company. The police promise to give warranty that their demonstration won’t be hindered in the Freedom Square.
The demonstrators are unarmed, they don’t allow disrespectful actions towards the police, however, the Vesti news program on a Russian state-run TV channel on June 23 reported that protesters allegedly were armed with iron bars, brass knuckles and truncheons.
Fifteen people sought medical treatment and seven of them were hospitalized, the Health Ministry said.
Protesters are opposing a decision to increase electricity prices for households by 17-22% from 1 August.
The president of Armenia and the country’s top leaders also refrain from making statements about the protest actions: President Serzh Sargsyan offers to meet with a delegation of demonstrators, but they have rejected the proposal. Waving national flags they again demanded an end to electricity hikes.
While starting off as peaceful rally last week, by Monday some 5,000 protesters flooded the streets of the city center, chanting “No to robbery!” and “Don’t slip your hands into our pockets!”
Sarkisian, who is serving his second term, has not yet commented on the protest.
The landlocked country’s economy is hobbled by the longstanding closure of its borders with Azerbaijan and Turkey over a conflict in the Nagorno-Karabakh region.
Alexander Iskandarian, head of the Caucasus Institute, an independent think tank, said the protest reflected “the radicalization of opposition activities”.
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