STATE OF EMERGENCY IN YEREVAN WAS A NECESSITY
ARKA
March 5, 2008
YEREVAN, March 5. /ARKA/. The recent developments in Yerevan have
shown that State of Emergency in Armenia’s capital was a necessity,
said RA President Robert Kocharian. "If the emergency situation were
not declared, we would have much more losses and the consequences
would be more serious for Armenia," the President said.
Kocharian expressed regret for the victims and presented his
condolences to their families. The President also expressed hope
that people injured during the clashes will recover soon. "The chain
of event will be reproduced," Kocharian said. "Many materials,
including videos have been recorded. They will help appraise the
situation and allow law enforcement agencies undertake necessary
precaution measures".
He pointed out that investigators will have to get down to serious
work, as many people were involved in the mass disturbances. The
President has charged them to make a daily report on the investigation
process.
Armenian President Robert Kocharian declared a state of emergency on
March 1after a day of clashes between police and protesters.
The clashes began when authorities used force to clear Freedom
Square of thousands of demonstrators who had camped there for the
past 10 days.
Afterwards, the strikers went to the French Embassy in Armenia near
the Municipality of Yerevan. According to the press service of the
RA Police, the situation became uncontrollable and the crowd battled
policemen with petrol bombs, sticks and pillage nearby public and
private entities.
131 people were injured and eight died as a result of clashes.