Radio New Zealand, New Zealand
March 1 2008
A state of emergency has been declared in Armenia’s capital on the
11th consecutive day of protests against the result of a presidential
election last month.
President Robert Kocharyan signed the decree on Saturday "to prevent
a threat to constitutional order" after police fired in the air to
disperse opposition demonstrators in Freedom Square, who had been
camping there since the election on 19 February.
The decree will remain in force until 20 March.
Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian won the election. Opposition challenger
Levon Ter-Petrosian says he is now under house arrest.
International observers judged the poll in the ex-Soviet Caucasus
republic to have generally met international standards.
Official results gave Mr Sarkisian 53% of the vote, with Mr
Ter-Petrosian, a former president, getting 21.5%.
The protests echo other street movements that have brought down
governments in neighbouring ex-Soviet Georgia, as well as Ukraine
and Kyrgyzstan in the last four years.