Police use water cannons to disperse protesters in Yerevan

In the centre of Yerevan, the Armenian police dispersed a rally protesting against the increase in electricity tariffs. Several hundred people were detained.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on June 17 Armenia made a decision to increase electricity tariffs starting August 1. On June 19, in Yerevan, protesters went out to an action against the tariff rise. They announced a sit-in strike in Freedom Square and gave time to the authorities until June 22 to cancel the tariff-rising decision. On June 22, opponents of the increase in electricity tariffs in Armenia held a sitting strike in Bagramyan Avenue. They refused to obey the police order to clear the roadway and announced their intention to spend the whole night there.

The protestors ignored the warnings stating that "the police would use physical force and special equipment in the manner prescribed by the law," and policemen began to use water cannons to disperse the rally.

Eleven policemen and seven protestors were injured in the clashes. 237 people were detained. This was reported by Ashot Agaronyan, the police press secretary. According to him, seven protesters got injuries of varying degrees of severity, and three protestors were hospitalized, the "Interfax" reports.

The police stations of Yerevan are overcrowded because of the large number of detainees, and some people were brought to the police stations of the towns of Abovyan and Ashtarak, the "Armenia Today" reports with reference to the "Union of Informed Citizens".

According to the local media, journalists of some TV Channels and news agencies were also detained. Some of them have been released already, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

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