Armenia’s ‘Electric Yerevan’ Protesters Return to Streets Despite Arrests and Water Blasts
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Version 0 of 1. Thousands of protesters confronted riot police in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, for a second night on Tuesday, just hours after a previous demonstration was dispersed with blasts of water and more than 200 arrests. The protesters, who want the government to reverse a decision allowing a steep rate increase by a Russian-owned electricity company, were undeterred by the use of force to break up a peaceful, festive sit-in near the presidential palace that began late Monday and lasted through the night. Images of the protesters being blasted with water and dragged away by the police early Tuesday, captured by local journalists and activists, sowed anger online. When they regrouped in Yerevan’s Freedom Square on Tuesday evening, some activists showed flashes of humor, returning to face off with the police again equipped with swim caps, inner tubes, water pistols and rubber ducks. Journalists and bloggers — including correspondents for the Armenian service of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which is financed by the United States — reported that they, too, had endured rough treatment by uniformed and plainclothes officers. Participants in the protest on Tuesday night like Karena Avedissian, an Armenian-American expert on post-Soviet politics in the Caucasus, and Babken DerGrigorian, a researcher at the London School of Economics, posted updates and commentary on the events as they unfolded on social networks, tagged #ElectricYerevan. As the protesters marched from Freedom Square in the direction of President Serzh Sargsyan’s residence on Baghramian Avenue, some chanted, “Armenians, join us,” but they were once again blocked by rows of officers in riot gear. In response, the protesters worked to defend the sit-in, dragging in trash cans to serve as barricades. As the night wore on, the protesters considered, but ultimately rejected, a proposal from the authorities to send a delegation to meet with the president. The negotiations between the police and the protesters were streamed live on the web, and some participants in the protest itself relied in part on Twitter for updates from the front lines. Although reports in the Russian press likened the protest to the Euromaidan movement in Ukraine, another former Soviet republic, Armenian activists resisted the comparison. Earlier in the day, activists who want the authorities to cancel the proposed rate increase — of between 17 to 22 percent — welcomed support from a celebrated Armenian-American musician, Serj Tankian, the leader of the band System of a Down. Writing about the protest movement on Facebook, Mr. Tankian suggested that “monopolistic foreign-owned utility companies should be made a state asset and strictly regulated and audited by an independent panel.” He added that “Armenia’s civic society is burgeoning,” and noted that the protesters were perhaps inspired by previous campaigns of “peaceful civic disobedience against unjust programs,” like one over a proposed fare increase for public transportation. |