21 March 2008, 14:09
Action in memory of March 1 victims held in the capital of Armenia
In Yerevan, an action in memory of those who perished in the collision between peaceful demonstrators and power agents of Armenia that took place on March 1. Several thousands took part in protest against the violence that was used on that day.
By 3 p.m. local time, several dozens of buses full of interior soldiers, armed with truncheons and shields, drove to the Freedom Square.
The policemen who blocked the entrances to the Freedom Square called people to disperse, but the people who came to take part in the commemorating action were indignant with the fact that they were not allowed to light candles in memory of the eight victims.
Several dozens of women managed to make their way to the Square and light candles in memory of the victims. However, policemen managed to force the crowd to the adjacent streets, and, finally, all the participants of the action gathered in the Northern Avenue.
The people went silently along sidewalks, without shouting out any slogans. But at the institute of Gynaecology and Obstetrics named after Markaryan, a collision took place with the police cordon deployed there. The policemen called the participants of the action to disperse, referring to the fact that the march was not sanctioned. The people answered that they were simply walking along the sidewalks.
Representatives of the opposition, including members of the Election Office of Levon Ter-Petrosyan also took part in the action.
The today's action was preceded by numerous appeals of various leaders of the opposition to city Mayoralties of Yerevan and Echmiadzin on holding rallies. All the applications were rejected, the officials of the Mayoralties referred in their answers to the fact that the investigation on the case about mass disorders in Yerevan on March 1 and 2, when eight persons were lost and 200 more wounded, is not yet over.
