20 detained as opposition protests continue in Armenia’s capital

Some 20 protesters were taken to different police departments in Yerevan, Armenia’s capital, as of 10 a.m. on Thursday, the Information and Public Relations Department of the Armenian Police told Panorama.am, as anti-government protests go into a seventh day on Thursday.

Among the detainees is David Petrosyan, a well-known activist, who led the student movement against restricting military deferments.

Demonstrators led by Armenian MP Nikol Pashinyan, the leader of the opposition Civil Contract party, began to block the government building on Thursday morning, chanting slogans with calls for a strike in all the state institutions, at the same time urging the police to ‘hand down weapons’.

The police formed a human shield close to the government building, moving forward step by step to clear the area, detaining some protesters at the same time.

Some of the activists sustained injuries in the wake of clashes with the riot police.

Thousands of opposition supporters have been rallying since April 13, marching through the main streets in Yerevan, blocking traffic and staging sit-ins outside government buildings, protesting ex-president Serzh Sargsyan’s nomination and election as the country’s prime minister.