According to information available to “Union of Informed Citizens” NGO, Armenian police detained more than 200 people on Tuesday as they dispersed a protest sit-in against the hike in electricity prices on Yerevan`s central Baghramyan Avenue, not far from the RA Presidential Residence. As a result, all of the police stations in the capital were filled, and some of the detainees were taken to stations in the towns of Abovyan and Ashtarak, Armenian epress.am reported.
Gala TV reporter Paylak Fahradyan, who was released earlier, said in an interview with Epress.am that he was physically attacked by police during the clashes, sustaining neck and arm injuries.
“They dragged me, beat unsparingly. I yelled that I was a journalist, I had a microphone in my hand, but they were not interested. In addition to police, plainclothes men took an active part in these activities as well. Me and a group of demonstrators were forcefully put into a police car and taken to the station. I did not testify, and am now returning to the office,” Fahradyan said.
Epress.am cameraman Tigran Hakobyan also received a blow to the head with a baton and was detained to Kentron Police Department in Yerevan.
The beatings and mass arrests were accompanied by harassment and abusive language. Lragir.am reporter Tehmine Yenoqyan managed to film one such episode.
One of the hundreds of plainclothes officers mouthed profanities, such as “suck my d*ck,” towards the journalist. However, law enforcement officers standing nearby, including Deputy Yerevan Police Chief Karen Movsisyan, did not react to what was happening in any way.
Video in Armenian
Mass Arrests in Armenia Accompanied by Police Profanity and Harassment - VIDEO
23 June 2015
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