‘No To Plunder’ Announces Public Rally, Says They May Block Baghramyan Avenue Again (Video)

July 13, 2015 By administrator

YEREVAN (ArmInfo)—The rule of President Serzh Sarkissian and Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan will be considered “inappropriate” if the three demands of the No To Plunder movement are not met, the youth group announced on Monday. A public march and rally to the Armenian Prosecutor General’s office to take place on Tuesday, July 14, was also announced.

No To Plunder did not say if it would call for Sarkissian’s and Abrahamyan’s resignation, but continued to reiterate their three demands and said that if those demands were not met, the current government’s rule would be considered “inappropriate”.

The demands of the youth group include the reversal of the decision by the Public Services Regulatory Commission to raise electricity tariffs by 6.93 drams (over 16%), to reconsider the current tariff rates and lower them, and to punish the police officers who used excessive force to disperse and arrest protesters and journalists during the police crackdown on the sit-in on Marshal Baghramyan Avenue on June 23. The members said that any other demands reported by the press are false.

On Tuesday, July 14, the group plans to hold a march to the Prosecutor General’s Office and a subsequent rally, demanding that police officers who used excessive force in the early morning of June 23 be punished. City authorities have been notified of the planned march.

“We are glad that the relevant bodies are investigating the violence against journalists but we think that everyone who used violence against protesters must be punished. All detained protesters were subjected to violence and badmouthed but none of the officials standing there interfered,” said Maxim Sargsyan, an organizer of the No To Plunder movement.

Armenian Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan apologized to reporters earlier for the actions of police officers on June 23, stating that “an official investigation will soon shed light on what happened.”

“There have obviously been some omissions which I noticed in work, especially with regard to mass media representatives. I apologize for that. I ordered an official investigation and we will deal with the matter. I know that technical equipment was damaged. The police will reimburse the reporters for material damage,” said Gasparyan.

One police officer has since been demoted and eight others have been reprimanded for their role in the crackdown on June 23. An internal inquiry by the Yerevan police is still underway.

Members of the No To Plunder movement also dismissed reports about the alleged break-up of the movement.

“We are all together. There are people who are affiliated with political parties but it does not matter, we are all citizens of Armenia. Simply, certain people have problems with time and cannot always be on our side,” said Artush Chibukhchyan.

The group has not decided whether it will participate in the audit in the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA). According to one member of the initiative, Sofia Hovsepyan, No To Plunder has set up its own commission to examine the issue after the audit of the ENA was announced.

“Every year, they conduct a financial audit in the company, but every year the electricity tariffs are raised. Everything will be meaningless unless they conduct a technical audit. We shall decide on our involvement after they say what kind of audit they are going to conduct,” said Hovsepyan.

In response to a question about the group’s decision to leave Marshal Baghramyan Avenue before their demands were met, Maxim Sargsyan said that, “whatever happened, happened. When we unblocked Baghramyan we continued the protest at Liberty Square. We did not go home, this is a wrong opinion.”

Sargsyan added that they are likely to block Baghramyan and Mashtots Avenues again if authorities ignore their demands. The group is coordinating with its members and continues to meet with citizens in other provinces, according to Rima Sargsyan.

“If we act within the law, it does not mean we abandoned the struggle and the idea of rallies. Nothing of the kind,” said Chibukchyan.

‘No To Plunder’ Not To Be Involved in ENA Audit #ElectricYerevan

July 9, 2015 By administrator

Leaders of the “No To Plunder” movement hold a press conference in Yerevan on June 30 (Source: Photolure)

YEREVAN (Mediamax)—The “No To Plunder” movement has decided not to take part in the international audit to be conducted at the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), according to statements made by members of the group to Mediamax.

An organizer of the “No to Plunder” movement, Sofia Hovsepyan, told Mediamax that their decision was preceded by discussions on the expediency of their involvement with various specialists, among them representatives and lawyers of international audit firms.

“After the discussions, we concluded that our presence would not ensure the transparency of the audit process. Logically, specialists conducting the audit deal with quite serious numbers and no international auditor will let us be present at the entire process. We will have to wait till the auditors step out of the room and present a certain result to us, which equals to presenting those results to the public, outside of those walls. It will create the impression that we have controlled the process and have seen that everything is ‘normal,’” said Hovsepyan.

According to her, the state’s proposal to allow activists to be involved in the audit group “was nothing but a formal step.”

Hovsepyan stressed that “No to Plunder” is against conducting an international audit of the ENA.

“The results of the audits conducted at the ENA have testified to the ineffective work of the company, and the latter has not taken any measure, except increasing electricity tariffs, to prevent it. We already have the results of the audits conducted over the past years. Additional money will be spent on this planned audit, which mainly aims to make it clear for us that the increase in electricity tariffs is objective,” she said.

“No To Plunder” will officially announce its decision not to be involved in the audit process at a press conference scheduled for next week, where participants will speak about the group’s next steps and demands.

Meanwhile, on July 14, “No To Plunder” will march to the General Prosecutor’s Office demanding that the policemen who used forcibly dispersed protesters participating in a sit-in on Marshal Baghramyan Avenue on June 23 be punished for excessive use of force.

President Serzh Sarkissian had previously called on the protesters “not to refrain from taking on a new responsibility and getting involved in the real process of elaborating the steps, thus reducing the skepticism that rules in the society.”

Hovsepyan noted that other than the President’s statement, “No To Plunder” has not received any official proposal to participate in the audit.

No To Plunder: Still committed to cause, but not blocking avenue anymore #ElectricYerevan

June 30, 2015 By administrator

BY Alina Nikoghosyan ArmeniaNow

Members of the No To Plunder civil initiative think that the sit-in in Baghramyan Avenue is no longer appropriate and new platforms for the resolution of their demands should be found.

The group that initiated protests against rising electricity prices earlier this month told media on Tuesday that it will still be present at the demonstrations in Baghramyan Avenue, but not as coordinators but as Armenian citizens.

On June 28, No To Plunder largely accepted the compromise plan offered by President Serzh Sargsyan to defuse the current crisis and called its supporters to unblock Baghramyan Avenue that remains closed for traffic because of the nonstop protests since June 23. However, the greater part of the protesters stayed there continuing demonstrations. They remain in the area even today.

“Vaghinak [Shushanyan] didn’t manage to read out our decision till the end and it implied that part of the group would stay in Baghramyan Avenue together with the protesters while others would go with those who do not see their struggle here. At this time many people tried to discredit people in Baghramyan Avenue on our behalf, but all of them are our friends and we support them,” Arthur Kocharyan, a member of the initiative, said.

The group members said that their demand didn’t change but No To Plunder would meet different specialists to discuss the president’s proposals.

On Saturday, Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan announced that the government will take upon itself the burden of compensating for the electricity price hike from August 1 and suggested commissioning an international audit for Armenia’s power grid. The president also noticed that the initiative members might be included in the process.

“We had stayed in Baghramyan Avenue for quite a long time and our next step would be blocking streets. However, being at the same area all the time proved quite difficult. We cannot succeed by just blocking streets, we need concrete professional help,” Sofya Hovsepyan, the coordinator of the group, said at today’s press conference.