Interfax - Russia & CIS General Newswire
 Thursday 4:37 PM MSK


Relatives of Sasna Tsrer radicals stop blocking avenue in Yerevan,
demand meeting with Pashinyan

YEREVAN. May 17

The relatives and supporters of the armed group Sasna Tsrer, which
took over the territory of a police regiment in Yerevan in 2016, have
decided to stop blocking one of the main streets of Yerevan,
Arshakunyats Avenue.

"We have made a decision to stop blocking the road, but the court
building, the entrances and exits, will be blocked. We intend to meet
with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. All issues should be resolved
legally. We are now following his call," protester Pavel Yegiazaryan
told reporters.

On Wednesday, a Yerevan court declined a motion for a change of the
restrictions on members of the armed group Sasna Tsrer. The court
found the facts used by lawyers to demand the replacement of their
arrest with release with travel restrictions to be ungrounded.

Earlier on Thursday, the Armenian prime minister called on the people
of the republic to stop civil resistance actions and the blocking of
roads in Yerevan.

He also said he could not release members of Sasna Tsrer from prison
by his own decision.

In the meantime, Pashinyan said on May 15 all political prisoners in
Armenia needed to be released.

In the morning of July 17, 2016 a group of armed men calling
themselves Sasna Tsrer (Daredevils of Sassoun) seized the territory of
a patrol police regiment in Yerevan. They demanded the release of
Jirair Sefilian, the coordinator of the Armenian opposition Founding
Parliament, who was under arrest on charges of illegal acquisition and
storage of weapons. The armed men also demanded the resignation of the
president and government and the formation of a government of national
confidence. They surrendered in the evening of July 31.

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