Armenia: residents of Komitas Avenue protest against new construction in their yard

On August 21, people who live in Nos. 3, 5 and 7 inKomitas Avenue in Yerevan organized a picket against construction of a multi-purpose building in their yard. During the action, one of the protesters, Anushavan Petrosyan, cut his veins and was hospitalized.

Besides, during the picket, Tigran Khzmalyan, a film director and a member of the initiative "Pre-Parliament", who tried to stop the construction works, was detained by policemen. In protest, people blocked the road and demanded to release him.

The tenants' protest was supported by a number of civil initiatives, in particular, the "Pre-Parliament", "We are owners of our city", "Sardarapat" and members of the "Heritage" Party.

The dispute between the residents of the above houses and the developer is four years old already, as tenants assert that the new construction is illegal.

Ruzanna Degoyan, a resident of No. 7, believes that the territory of the new site is public; and the developer has no right to erect his building without residents' permit.

"A week ago I spoke to the developer and proved that all his documents are faked; his license has no seal, to which he replied that the relevant authorities had told him:" You start building up; later we'll legalize everything," she said.