ANC CONDEMNS STABBING OF FOUNDING PARLIAMENT ACTIVIST IN GYUMRI
NEWS | 30.03.15 | 11:01
‘Without Regime’ Campaign in Gyumri: Radical opposition group’s rally
in ‘second city’ accompanied with incidents
The opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) has put the blame
on the authorities for the incident that happened to an activist of
another opposition group during in a weekend rally in Gyumri.
Hrach Mirzoyan, a member of the Founding Parliament group, was
hospitalized shortly after an unknown knife-wielding man inflicted
stab wounds on him on Saturday. Doctors said the injuries were not
life-threatening. The stabbing incident took place shortly after a
group of young men began pelting eggs at participants of the small
rally.
Founding Parliament members said those people were ‘provocateurs’
hired by the authorities to thwart the protest.
In a statement released on Sunday the ANC described the attack as the
latest in a series of violent acts committed by the regime against
opposition members in Armenia.
“The ANC condemns the authorities’ latest act of terror and considers
that by such a manner of action the regime only stresses the relevance
of getting rid of it as soon as possible,” the opposition party said.
Earlier, the ANC and other parliamentary opposition parties effectively
refused to back the Founding Parliament’s anti-government push timed to
the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide and therefore believed
by many to be inappropriate.
Jirair Sefilian, the leader of the extra-parliamentary group,
criticized the mainstream opposition forces as he addressed supporters
at the March 28 rally in Gyumri.
The Founding Parliament, which has launched a “Centenary Without the
Regime” movement, believes that all true opposition forces should
join its protest in Yerevan on April 24, the day when the Genocide
Centenary will be commemorated.
“The people, the forces that say that one should prepare for 2017
[parliamentary] or 2018 [presidential] elections are hardly any
different from the current regime,” Sefilian said.