Note, thousands of citizens have been staging a nonstop sit-in on Baghramyan Avenue for nearly two weeks calling on Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan to reverse the expected hike in electricity prices.
On Saturday, July 4, one of the protest leaders, Davit Sanasaryan, announced they would move the barricades one step forward every day toward the RA Presidential Residence, if Armenian authorities did officially reverse the rise in electricity rates by 7 PM on Monday, July 6.
Today, during negotiations with Deputy RA Police Chief Hunan Poghosyan, protesters refused to comply with the demands of the police and move the protest action to the Freedom Square not far from Baghramyan Avenue. As a result, dozens of police officers began at 12:30 PM to dismantle the barricades built by protesters using nearby garbage cans. As of 1 PM, police have finished dismantling the entire barricade, and trash cans have been taken away by employees of owner “Sanitek.”
“Police will use powers vested in them by Armenian law to restore the public order that has been disrupted for nearly two weeks,” Deputy Yerevan Police Chief Valery Osipyan stated, calling for protesters to help law enforcement officers “to return Baghramyan Avenue to its original beautiful state.”
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