12:51, 14 April 2004

Unauthorized demonstrations and meetings banned in Yerevan

It is forbidden to hold all kinds of unauthorized demonstrations and meetings in Yerevan, deputy chief of the Armenian police Major-General Ovanes Varian told on April 13.

According to him, law-enforcement agencies did not disperse unauthorized meetings before "as they expected them to be short." However, having heard appeals to forcibly overthrow the power during those meetings, we dispersed them and banned," Mr Varian said.

The police did not allow several dozens of people to hold an unauthorized sitting demonstration on Freedom Square in the heart of Yerevan yesterday evening. The opposition report on several hundreds of detained demonstration participants, two opposition deputies being among them.

Source: Interfax News Agency