Report Alina Nikoghosyan
ArmeniaNow
Two #ElectricYerevan protesters on hunger strike in Baghramyan Avenue
Despite police calls to unblock Baghramyan Avenue, protesters against electricity price hikes are not going to leave their “territory”. They say they are going to stay put in the central Yerevan boulevard until their demands are fulfilled. Report Alina Nikoghosyan ArmeniaNow
The campaign dubbed Electric Yerevan continues in Baghramyan Avenue, with a new coordinating group working with the public. David Sanasaryan, a member of this group, told ArmeniaNow that the fight will continue in Baghramyan Avenue.
The Armenian Police urge citizens currently blocking the thoroughfare in Yerevan to end their blockade. Otherwise, they warn they will have to use “in full volume” the powers vested in them by Armenian laws.
“It has been 10 days we are listening to the threats of the Police, it is not news, and we continue our work. The citizens who gather here know that the Police are on the other side of the barricades and that they are able to use force, but they are not afraid anyway,” Sanasaryan said. “At this moment, there are a few people there, so they have a chance to remove the barricades and take the people away but then they realize that if not Baghramyan Avenue, then some other street can be blocked. Citizens have decided to stay on Baghramyan and that’s all. Some of them thought that it will be better to go to Liberty Square, but then they came back.”
According to Sanasaryan, this struggle is not just a problem of electricity prices rising by 7 AMD (about 1.5 cents). He said that one should not avoid using the word “political” as the demand stated by the protesters has elements of politics as well.
“The movement will have influence on the future decision-making. The problem is civil as there is no political force in the forefront, but it is “political” because we deal with political decisions,” he said.
Meanwhile, Baghramyan Avenue has had its ninth peaceful night. Interestingly, former coordinator of the campaign representing the No To Plunder initiative, including one of its leaders Maxim Sargsyan, also spent the night there. The number of participants in the nonstop protest dwindles by day because of the heat, but the crowd swells again towards the night, with the rally continuing with singing, dancing and speeches into late hours.