Five people injured in clash near Amulsar mine

The people accompanying the head of the "Lidian Armenia" Company sprayed gas, from which a policeman and four activists suffered, who blocked the road to the Amulsar deposit. The Inspectorate for Ecology and Mineral Resources of Armenia has urged the "Lidian Armenia" to suspend the works at the mine until the re-inspection is over.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on August 26, about 20 bikers organized a motor rally from Yerevan to Amulsar, heading for the activists who blocked the roads to the Amulsar deposit.

Today, the head of the company that owns the Amulsar deposit tried to break into the mine's territory, Arpine Galfayan, an activist, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. According to her story, the people accompanying the director sprayed gas at the activists, who have been blocking the road to the deposit for the second month already.

"At least five people received face burns and temporarily lost vision," Ms Galfayan said. She noted that the burns received by the victims are minor.

Teimine Enokyan, another protester, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that today the above Inspectorate suggested that the company refrains from working at the mine; but activists do not leave their posts. "First of all, this is only an offer; and, secondly, we are not sure that the 'Lidian Armenia' will not penetrate into the mine in spite of this decision and conduct illegal works," the activist has explained.

The Inspectorate has confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that they had urged the company to refrain from any mining works until the completion of the repeated examinations.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on August 27, 2018 at 05:54 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.