Relatives of missing and captured Armenian soldiers have blocked the central Baghramyan avenue, following the protest action outside the government building held earlier on Wednesday. As a result of their actions a huge traffic jam has been formed at the scene.
To remind, since yesterday, the families of captured soldiers have been voicing their anger over the comments of National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan about prisoners of war (POWs). Simonyan came under fire after calling Armenian POWs held in Azerbaijan deserters. In a scandalous video recording which emerged online on Tuesday, he can be heard saying that many of them “laid down their arms, ran away and got lost”, ending up in captivity. “Those POWs don’t exist for me anymore,” he said.
To note, later today a Q/A session is planned at the National Assembly with Nikol Pashinyan in attendance. The National Assembly is located on Baghramyan avenue, and Pashinyan's visit is usually accompanied by deployment of large police forces forces.