Tweet
EMERGENCY ORDER EMPTIES ARMENIAN CAPITAL'S STREETS
By Sabrina Tavernise
New York Times
March 3 2008
NY
YEREVAN, Armenia - Tanks blocked central streets in the capital of
this tiny mountain country on Sunday, a day after Armenian authorities
clashed with demonstrators in a violent confrontation that left at
least eight people dead and more than 130 wounded.
The government imposed a state of emergency, and for the first
time since a contested Feb. 19 presidential election, the streets
and central squares of this ancient city were empty of the crowds
of protesters.
Any attempt at demonstrating "will immediately result in adequate and
strict reaction by the armed forces," Gen. Seyran Ohanyan, Armenia's
top military commander, said in a statement.
Levon Ter-Petrossian, the opposition leader who has led the crowds,
and whose failed candidacy was the reason for the protests, said that
he would not encourage his supporters to defy the curfew, and that
the government had won by closing down his only outlet to the public.
"They're happy with themselves," said Mr. Ter-Petrossian, speaking
to reporters in his 1930s mansion on the edge of Yerevan. "They got
what they wanted."
Lines of military police officers moved in on the demonstration
late Saturday night, firing rubber balls and tear gas canisters,
and shooting bullets into the air. It was not clear how many of the
deaths were caused by bullet wounds.
Mr. Ter-Petrossian blamed the Armenian government for what he described
as a "slaughter." Seven civilians were killed and only one security
officer, according to the Foreign Ministry. Of the 131 injuries,
72 were police officers and 59 were civilians, Agence France-Presse
reported, citing the Health Ministry.
The casualties prompted statements of concern by the State Department,
the European Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
It was clear by early afternoon Saturday that after 10 days of peaceful
protests, the demonstrators, who had been beaten by police officers
in the morning, were spoiling for a fight. Men were yanking bricks
out of sidewalks, barricading streets with city buses, and assembling
gasoline bombs. By evening, a four-or-five-block area had become an
encampment run by agitated young men wielding metal poles and bricks.
Even before police officers moved in, a group of protesters set
fire to a police jeep after it bumped into a woman, and when a fire
truck arrived to put out the blaze, someone pitched a rock through
its windshield.
Mr. Ter-Petrossian accused the government of sneaking provocateurs into
the crowd. "It's their people," he said. But he acknowledged that some
of his supporters might have joined in. Looters who dragged cognac,
cakes, fruit and even food scales from the Yerevan City grocery store
on Saturday seemed to strongly support him.
"I'm fighting for honesty," said a man in his 50s, holding a stolen
beer in one hand and a lemon in the other. "Levon Ter-Petrossian is
for the people."
Fifteen people were arrested.
The emergency decree dealt a particularly paralyzing blow to the
opposition because local television stations, controlled by Prime
Minister Serge Sargsyan and President Robert Kocharian, virtually
ignored the daily rallies, which often drew tens of thousands of
protesters. "Losing the square means losing the connection to the
people," Mr. Ter-Petrossian said. "Now they have taken this away
from us."
According to the emergency decree, local news media are barred
from disseminating information given by any source other than the
government.
CNN segments about Armenia were clipped from television programming,
and many Web sites were closed. Only journalists from foreign news
organizations could attend Mr. Ter-Petrossian's briefing.
Mr. Ter-Petrossian's state-financed security detail had orders not
to allow him out of his house, but Armenia's foreign minister said
he was free to leave if he agreed to forgo the security.
Armenian authorities have used violence against political opposition
several times over the past 13 years. In 1995, for example, during
Mr. Ter-Petrossian's tenure as president, at least one opposition
figure died in police custody after his political party was shut down,
according to Human Rights Watch.
On Sunday afternoon, city workers swept shards of glass and towed
burned shells of cars off central streets, still sticky from looted
food and gasoline fires, as passers-by came to gape at the damage.
"It's shameful," said a 27-year-old economist surveying the wreckage.
"They did it for themselves. Not for the people."
By Sabrina Tavernise
New York Times
March 3 2008
NY
YEREVAN, Armenia - Tanks blocked central streets in the capital of
this tiny mountain country on Sunday, a day after Armenian authorities
clashed with demonstrators in a violent confrontation that left at
least eight people dead and more than 130 wounded.
The government imposed a state of emergency, and for the first
time since a contested Feb. 19 presidential election, the streets
and central squares of this ancient city were empty of the crowds
of protesters.
Any attempt at demonstrating "will immediately result in adequate and
strict reaction by the armed forces," Gen. Seyran Ohanyan, Armenia's
top military commander, said in a statement.
Levon Ter-Petrossian, the opposition leader who has led the crowds,
and whose failed candidacy was the reason for the protests, said that
he would not encourage his supporters to defy the curfew, and that
the government had won by closing down his only outlet to the public.
"They're happy with themselves," said Mr. Ter-Petrossian, speaking
to reporters in his 1930s mansion on the edge of Yerevan. "They got
what they wanted."
Lines of military police officers moved in on the demonstration
late Saturday night, firing rubber balls and tear gas canisters,
and shooting bullets into the air. It was not clear how many of the
deaths were caused by bullet wounds.
Mr. Ter-Petrossian blamed the Armenian government for what he described
as a "slaughter." Seven civilians were killed and only one security
officer, according to the Foreign Ministry. Of the 131 injuries,
72 were police officers and 59 were civilians, Agence France-Presse
reported, citing the Health Ministry.
The casualties prompted statements of concern by the State Department,
the European Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
It was clear by early afternoon Saturday that after 10 days of peaceful
protests, the demonstrators, who had been beaten by police officers
in the morning, were spoiling for a fight. Men were yanking bricks
out of sidewalks, barricading streets with city buses, and assembling
gasoline bombs. By evening, a four-or-five-block area had become an
encampment run by agitated young men wielding metal poles and bricks.
Even before police officers moved in, a group of protesters set
fire to a police jeep after it bumped into a woman, and when a fire
truck arrived to put out the blaze, someone pitched a rock through
its windshield.
Mr. Ter-Petrossian accused the government of sneaking provocateurs into
the crowd. "It's their people," he said. But he acknowledged that some
of his supporters might have joined in. Looters who dragged cognac,
cakes, fruit and even food scales from the Yerevan City grocery store
on Saturday seemed to strongly support him.
"I'm fighting for honesty," said a man in his 50s, holding a stolen
beer in one hand and a lemon in the other. "Levon Ter-Petrossian is
for the people."
Fifteen people were arrested.
The emergency decree dealt a particularly paralyzing blow to the
opposition because local television stations, controlled by Prime
Minister Serge Sargsyan and President Robert Kocharian, virtually
ignored the daily rallies, which often drew tens of thousands of
protesters. "Losing the square means losing the connection to the
people," Mr. Ter-Petrossian said. "Now they have taken this away
from us."
According to the emergency decree, local news media are barred
from disseminating information given by any source other than the
government.
CNN segments about Armenia were clipped from television programming,
and many Web sites were closed. Only journalists from foreign news
organizations could attend Mr. Ter-Petrossian's briefing.
Mr. Ter-Petrossian's state-financed security detail had orders not
to allow him out of his house, but Armenia's foreign minister said
he was free to leave if he agreed to forgo the security.
Armenian authorities have used violence against political opposition
several times over the past 13 years. In 1995, for example, during
Mr. Ter-Petrossian's tenure as president, at least one opposition
figure died in police custody after his political party was shut down,
according to Human Rights Watch.
On Sunday afternoon, city workers swept shards of glass and towed
burned shells of cars off central streets, still sticky from looted
food and gasoline fires, as passers-by came to gape at the damage.
"It's shameful," said a 27-year-old economist surveying the wreckage.
"They did it for themselves. Not for the people."