POLICE OF ARMENIA CALLS FOR OBSERVING REQUIREMENTS OF STATE OF EMERGENCY
Lragir
16:16:12 – 02/03/2008
The RA Police issued a statement which runs: "From midday March 1
the crowd near the City Hall was becoming uncontrollable, and in the
evening their actions turned into destruction and robbery.
During mass disorders which lasted for several hours small and big
bandit groups occasionally separating from a crowd of about 7 thousand
set to fire over twenty private cars, as well as police cars, even
ambulances, crashed buses and trolley-buses. The House of Moscow,
the nearby shops and offices were ruined and robbed, the windows of
the City Hall and the administrative office of Viva Cell were smashed.
The drunken gangs attacked the police force and police officers. 33
servicemen and officers of the RA Police went to hospital, including
11 with shrapnel wounds, 13 with different traumas, 8 poisoned from
gas. 7 police servicemen, including 4 with shrapnel wounds, received
fast aid and are receiving further treatment at the military unit. The
exact number of the hospitalized is being found out. According to
the ministry of health, at the moment of the incident 8 got killed,
and the circumstances of their death are being investigated by the
Office of Prosecutor General of RA.
Disorders continued, and only after the RA president signed a decree
on declaring a state of emergency in the capital, under the pressure
of the coordinated actions of the police, national security service
and army the riots retreated, stopped mass disorders and left.
Actions are taken to identify the organizers and participants, reveal
and punish in accordance with the law.
The RA Police appeals to the citizens for alertness and restraint, obey
the requirements of the state of emergency, assist the law-enforcement
agencies in elimination of consequences of mass disorders."
02.03.2008