Two people arrested in Armenia for beating journalists in dispersal of rally in Yerevan
YEREVAN. Aug 10 (Interfax) - Two people are arrested on suspicion of the use of violence against journalists in the dispersal of a demonstration in Yerevan on July 29, the press center of the Armenian Special Investigative Service told Interfax on Wednesday.
"During the investigation of a criminal case over the incident, which has taken place in the Sari Takh district in the city of Yerevan on July 29, 2016, today, on August 10, two Armenian citizens were arrested on the charge of obstructing the legal professional activity of journalists and group hooliganism," the statement said.
Preliminary reports indicated that 20 journalists were injured while performing their professional activity.
It was reported earlier that a group of gunmen calling themselves the Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sassoun) attacked and seized the headquarters of a district police station in Yerevan in the early hours of July 17. They killed one policeman, and four other people were injured during the attack. The radicals demanded the release of Jirair Sefilian, a coordinator of the civic opposition initiative 'Founding Parliament', who has been held under arrest on charges of illegal acquisition and storage of weapons.
On July 29, the opposition rally in Yerevan grew into a procession toward the seized police station. Several hundred demonstrators broke through a police cordon in an attempt to approach the police building. Police had to carry out a large-scale operation to disperse the demonstrators.
The police have carried out a large-scale operation to break up the protesters simultaneously from two sides of the seized patrol police regiment compound. Several journalists of the Armenian service of Radio Liberty have been beaten. They said on air of the radio station that people in common clothes with sticks had beaten them up.
The assailants surrendered in the evening on Sunday, July 31.
The followers of the radicals had held the rallies all this time.
It was reported on August 1 that on the instruction by Armenian Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan, media reports in connection with the events during the dispersal of the demonstrators by police in Yerevan on July 29 have been passed to the Special Investigative Service to prepare the materials.
"Twelve injured people, including two policemen and two journalists, remain" at the hospitals in Yerevan, Armenian Health Ministry spokesperson Anait Aitayan told Interfax on August 6.