Eight People Detained at Anti-Government Protest in Armenia – Police
YEREVAN, December 28- Eight people were detained at an anti-government demonstration outside Armenia’s parliament building in downtown Yerevan, the Armenian police told Sputnik on Monday. As reported by a Sputnik correspondent from Yerevan, protesters rallied from the parliament building to the Republic Square, hosting the majority of government…
YEREVAN, December 28 (Sputnik) – Eight people were detained at an anti-government demonstration outside Armenia’s parliament building in downtown Yerevan, the Armenian police told Sputnik on Monday.
Protesters gathered outside the parliament building on Monday morning when the legislature was due to convene for an extraordinary session. Participants demanded that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan step down.
“Eight people have been taken under the police custody so far,” a spokesperson for the Armenian police said.
Police have cordoned off the parliament building and deployed additional forces to the area. Protesters threw eggs at the cars of lawmakers, leading to a clash with a parliament member from Armenia’s ruling party, My Step.
As reported by a Sputnik correspondent from Yerevan, protesters rallied from the parliament building to the Republic Square, hosting the majority of government buildings, where they joined another anti-Pashinyan demonstration. The situation remains calm amid heavy police presence.
The Armenian opposition has been demanding Pashinyan’s resignation since the prime minister signed a trilateral declaration — with the leaders of Russia and Azerbaijan — on November 9 to cease armed hostilities in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh. The ceasefire declaration entailed significant territorial concessions to Azerbaijan, which many in Armenia were not happy about, given the death toll of thousands of predominantly young people.
Last Friday, Pashinyan proposed holding a snap election, but the opposition rejected the proposal, fearing that the prime minister has enough levers to call the vote, and demanded that he step down first.
