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ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVISTS IN FRESH STANDOFF WITH YEREVAN POLICE
Karlen Aslanian
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/24517080.html
15.03.2012
Armenia - A police officer tries to stop environmental activists
pitching a tent in Yerevan's Mashtots Park, 13Mar2012.
Dozens of young environmental activists confronted riot police for
the third consecutive day on Thursday in a renewed standoff over the
controversial construction of kiosks in a public park in downtown
Yerevan.
The activists began a round-the-clock sit-in there on Tuesday in
protest against municipal authorities' refusal to dismantle the nearly
one dozen kiosks.
Tension in Mashtots Park rose on Wednesday night after police
confiscated a tent pitched there by some protesters. A police statement
issued afterwards said that constituted a violation of public order.
The protesters rejected the police claim, as did Karen Andreasian,
the state human rights defender. In a written statement, Andreasian
demanded that the police allow them to spend nights in tents.
Police presence in the park was beefed up on Thursday morning. Some
80 police officers were deployed there to prevent the activists from
again occupying the largely completed stores.
Armenia - Police officers guard kiosks built in Yerevan's Mashtots
Park, 13Mar2012.
The small crowd demonstrated outside Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian's
office later in the day as the government discussed the situation
with Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian. The government backed Markarian's
stance in the month-long dispute.
The mayor has said all along that the kiosks will stand in Mashtots
Park for up to three years and not damage any trees. He has also
cited the need to protect the property rights of their owners.
The shops mainly selling clothing were previously located on the
sidewalk of a major street in the city center. They were dismantled
along with hundreds of other kiosks across Yerevan last year.
"We respect the views of our opponents," Sarkisian told members of
his cabinet. "We have discussed the situation with them in different
formats and the solution which is today proposed by the municipality
should put an end to this dialogue."
"Let them have no doubts that the municipality itself will dismantle
the kiosks within three years," Markarian told journalists after the
government meeting.
The activists rejected these assurances before marching back to the
park. They said they will continue their nonstop protests.
"We demand an immediate dismantling," one of them, Arpine Galfayan,
told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "These kiosks were
placed here illegally."
From: Baghdasarian
Karlen Aslanian
http://www.armenialiberty.org/content/article/24517080.html
15.03.2012
Armenia - A police officer tries to stop environmental activists
pitching a tent in Yerevan's Mashtots Park, 13Mar2012.
Dozens of young environmental activists confronted riot police for
the third consecutive day on Thursday in a renewed standoff over the
controversial construction of kiosks in a public park in downtown
Yerevan.
The activists began a round-the-clock sit-in there on Tuesday in
protest against municipal authorities' refusal to dismantle the nearly
one dozen kiosks.
Tension in Mashtots Park rose on Wednesday night after police
confiscated a tent pitched there by some protesters. A police statement
issued afterwards said that constituted a violation of public order.
The protesters rejected the police claim, as did Karen Andreasian,
the state human rights defender. In a written statement, Andreasian
demanded that the police allow them to spend nights in tents.
Police presence in the park was beefed up on Thursday morning. Some
80 police officers were deployed there to prevent the activists from
again occupying the largely completed stores.
Armenia - Police officers guard kiosks built in Yerevan's Mashtots
Park, 13Mar2012.
The small crowd demonstrated outside Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian's
office later in the day as the government discussed the situation
with Yerevan Mayor Taron Markarian. The government backed Markarian's
stance in the month-long dispute.
The mayor has said all along that the kiosks will stand in Mashtots
Park for up to three years and not damage any trees. He has also
cited the need to protect the property rights of their owners.
The shops mainly selling clothing were previously located on the
sidewalk of a major street in the city center. They were dismantled
along with hundreds of other kiosks across Yerevan last year.
"We respect the views of our opponents," Sarkisian told members of
his cabinet. "We have discussed the situation with them in different
formats and the solution which is today proposed by the municipality
should put an end to this dialogue."
"Let them have no doubts that the municipality itself will dismantle
the kiosks within three years," Markarian told journalists after the
government meeting.
The activists rejected these assurances before marching back to the
park. They said they will continue their nonstop protests.
"We demand an immediate dismantling," one of them, Arpine Galfayan,
told RFE/RL's Armenian service (Azatutyun.am). "These kiosks were
placed here illegally."
From: Baghdasarian