Haykakan Zhamanak, Armenia
March 28 2008
Armenian paper reports police pressure on protesters in province
The police have destroyed the tent of disabled Karabakh war veteran
Arshavir Bazinyan who has gone on a hunger strike in Armenia’s Kotayk
Region demanding the release of arrested MP Sasun Mikaelyan and other
political prisoners, the Armenian opposition daily Haykakan Zhamanak
has reported.
The hunger striker’s tent was destroyed on orders from a local police
chief, the newspaper said. Bazinyan continues his hunger strike in
the open air.
At the same time, protests in the village of Vanatur outside the town
of Hrazdan, Kotayk Region, are continuing despite arrests and
pressure from the authorities. The police visited a village school
yesterday and questioned children, Haykakan Zhamanak said. As a
result, many parents refuse to send their children to school, the
newspaper said.