Police detain ex-Armenian MPs at opposition protests

Panorama
Armenia – May 17 2022

Armenia’s riot police used force to detain former MPs Armen Ashotyan and Naira Zohrabyan, among others, during peaceful protests demanding Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation in Yerevan on Tuesday.

Armen Ashotyan, the deputy head of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), wanted to lay flowers at the Genocide Memorial at the intersection of Teryan and Isahakyan Streets in the city center, but officers of a special police unit forced him into a police van.

“Let's continue the action," Ashotyan said, addressing the protesters.

Naira Zohrabyan, who represented the Prosperous Armenia Party in the parliament, was also forcefully detained in the same place. She started chanting “Armenia without Nikol!" from the police car.

Anti-government demonstrations resumed in Yerevan early on Tuesday morning, with opposition activists blocking more than 50 streets in the capital.