Some 60 police officers on Monday attempted to storm the Simon Vratsian Center in Yerevan, which serves as the headquarters of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation Supreme Council of Armenia.
A statement issued by the body said that police officers were “provoking and attacking the party leaders, who did not allow their [the officers] illegal entry into the building.”
“Utilizing brute force — behavior typical of street hooligans or a pack of animals — dozens of officers detained ordinary citizens, including the chair of the ARF Supreme Council of Armenia, Parliament Member Ashot Simonyan, using overt physical violence,” the statement added.
“The ARF Supreme Council of Armenia considers these illegal acts as being organized by the criminal group that aims to subvert the Constitutional order in Armenia,” the ARF statement said. “Nikol Pashinyan, the ringmaster and leader of this criminal group, remains committed to carrying out his anti-patriotic agenda. To advance his illegal efforts against citizens and political parties, he has turned state institutions and bodies into criminal instruments.”
“Thus, by underscoring the ongoing illegal incidents of detention by the police — including those of members of parliament who have immunity — we appeal to local and international organizations that are advancing democracy and human rights, as well as the diplomatic representations. We demand a concrete assessment of this group, which has subverted the constitutional order and has usurped the government,” the ARF statement went on to point out.
“We are convinced that these crimes will not go unpunished. Thus, we demand that the Prosecutor General’s Office and investigative bodies immediately initiate criminal proceedings and bring to justice the police officers who committed these crimes, as well as against Nikol Pashinyan, who has given them the illegal mandate and is the guarantor of the this impunity. Otherwise the Prosecutor General’s Office and investigative bodies will also face the constitutional order, which carries with it severe punishment, as abettors of these crimes,” the statement continued.
“We reiterate out long-held conviction that the ARF cannot be stopped through these methods, and are announcing that the campaign against the criminal regime, which is destroying Armenia’s statehood, will not end. In the name of Armenia and the defense of the Armenian people’s rights, we call on Armenians to come together in support of the sacred movement,” the ARF statement said.