Peaceful protesters detained in Yerevan

Police officers used excessive force to detain peaceful protesters blocking streets in Yerevan on Saturday.

The National Front said in a statement that people blocking the Gai Avenue and Liberty Avenue were brutally detained.

A video posted on social media shows police officers dragging the Armenian flag, one of the state symbols of Armenia, on the ground while detaining a protester.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan of the Tavush Diocese, who is leading a protest movement against the Armenian government’s unilateral land handover to Azerbaijan, called for continued acts of civil disobedience in and outside Yerevan on the second day of demonstrations on Friday.

A rally is scheduled to be held in Yerevan’s Republic Square on Sunday.