‘Boat-Rocking’ Civil Rights Activist Attacked In Armenia
By RFE/RL’s Armenian Service
January 19, 2015
YEREVAN — A prominent Armenian civil rights activist has been
severely beaten in an attack in the capital, Yerevan.
Colleagues said Vilen Gabrielian was attacked by four unknown
assailants at about 10 p.m. on January 18 in downtown Yerevan.
One colleague, Akop Simidian, told RFE/RL that the attackers wore
masks and beat Gabrielian with wooden sticks.
He said Gabrielian’s head was covered with blood, his face swollen and
bruised after the attack.
Simidian said he believes the attack was retribution for his activism.
Gabrielian gained prominence with online campaigns for civil rights in
the South Caucasus nation.
He is known on social networks by a nickname that means “boat-rocker.”