19:44, 17 March 2017

About two thousand march in memory of Arthur Sargsyan

The activists in Freedom Square in Yerevan. March 17, 2017. Photo by Armine Martirosyan for "Caucasian Knot"

The participants of the march in memory of the activist Arthur Sargsyan, who died after a hunger strike, are moving to the building of the Armenian government.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on March 16, after the news about the death of Arthur Sargsyan, residents of Yerevan held a protest march demanding the resignation of the Armenian president and the leadership of the Ministries of Justice and Public Health. Today, about 500 people came to the action in Freedom Square in Yerevan. The organizers demanded from the authorities to give a permit to bury the activist in the military cemetery.

Arthur Sargsyan died at hospital on March 16, after a 25-day-long hunger strike, which he held demanding to release him from arrest. The activist was persecuted for the fact that in July 2016 he broke through the police cordon and handed food over to the members of the "Sasna Tsrer" detachment, who were holding the police building in Yerevan.

According to organizers, by the start of the march the number of protesters went up from 500 to 2000.

The authorities are guilty of Sargsyan's death, as they should not have allowed arresting him for the second time, said Vartan Oskanyan, the former country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

Earlier today, the activist Vardges Gaspari has stated that the police did not allow him to hold a solo protest action, related to the death of Sargsyan, in front of the president's cortege.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.

Author: Armine Martirosyan

Source: CK correspondent