Demonstrators in Yerevan want to protest in front of presidential office
YEREVAN. July 4 (Interfax) - Several young people among the demonstrators in Yerevan are trying to approach the presidential office on Bagramian Avenue in the center of the city to hold rally there.
"We want the president to hear us. Can we pass through the police cordons and stage our action near the presidential office? We want to understand who has blocked the avenue - is it we who put waste containers here or police who are blocking our procession?" Tigran Akopian, a participant in a demonstration against growth in electricity prices, asked the police.
Col. Valery Osipian, a deputy chief of the Yerevan city police department, said that, if the demonstrators remove waste containers and obtain permission to hold their protest at the said venue from the city hall, "there will be no problems."
"Bring permission and hold your demonstration in front of the presidential office at a distance stipulated by the law. The avenue must be unblocked to traffic. You should take your protest to a legal level," he said.
Police have blocked passage to the presidential office along Bagramian Avenue with metal barriers, and demonstrators have blocked the avenue with garbage cans.