Armenia state of emergency declared after demonstrator is killed

Earthtimes, UK –
March 1 2008

Posted : Sat, 01 Mar 2008 19:43:14 GMT
Author : DPA

Yerevan – A state of emergency was declared in Armenia late Saturday
after one person was killed in continuing clashes between police
and opposition supporters of Levon Ter-Petrosian. Itar-Tass news
agency said the state emergency was declared by outgoing President
Robert Kocharian after violent protests in the capital, Yerevan,
which followed police action Friday night.

Police moved in to clear dozens of tents used in a downtown camp
for sit-ins and demonstrators loyal to Ter-Petrosian who claim the
February 19 presidential election he lost had been rigged.

Ter-Petrosian, who won 21.43 per cent of the vote, accused the
government during the election of a slew of violations including the
beating and kidnapping of supporters.

Official results from the Central Election Committee (CEC) showed
that Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian took 52.86 per cent of the vote
with the final ballots counted.

The results put Sarkisian just over the 50 per cent needed to avoid
a run-off with the second-place finisher after a bitterly contested
election campaign.