Yerevan: participants of march claim need for change of power in country

Residents of Yerevan, who came to the action with the demand to release political prisoners, expressed their dissatisfaction with the policy of the Armenian authorities.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on November 5, according to the organizers of the action, about 200 residents of Yerevan came to the streets to support political prisoners. The action, organized by supporters of Shant Arutyunyan, the leader of the "Tseghakron" Party, who was sentenced in the case of the "Million Mask March", turned into a march through the main streets of the city. In the course of the action, several clashes between the protestors and the police occurred; however, no one was detained.

Activist Maxim Sargsyan has said that the marchers are chanting various demands, including demands to release political prisoners and demands to change the government and carry out constitutional reforms. Maxim Sargsyan notes that the demand to change the power is logic, since according to him, all the problems in the country "result from the policy of the leader of the country."

Maxim Sargsyan has also noted that the police demand from the participants of the "Million Mask March" to take off their masks was unlawful. According to the activist, there are no provisions in the law prohibiting anyone to put on a mask.

According to Daniel Ionnisyan, the manager of the programmes of the "Union of Informed Citizens", the action held by Yerevan residents on November 5 differs from other protest actions held in Armenia, since "now, the people are not satisfied with the policy of the government and they demand to change it."

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.