Tensions around police station ongoing in Yerevan

T

he situation around the police patrol station in Yerevan, which for over a week is being seized by an armed group Sasna Tser, remains tense.

İn the late hours of July 25, the attackers set fire at a police bus and then rolled it outside the gates of the police station, burning two other police cars. All this was accompanied by periodic gunshots.

Although the government says that negotiations with the opposition continue, its representatives still did not succeed in disarming the attackers of police station. Activists put all the responsibility for the possible bloodshed personally on President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan.

The police continues to prohibit the opposition of transferring food and water supplies to the members of the armed group.

The activists, who continue gathering around the police station and main squares of Yerevan, claim that a number protesters were beaten and held without food and water for hours.“They were taken to police regiments not designed as detention centers,” human rights activist Zara Hovhannisyan says.

At least 50 people, including 25 officers, were wounded in Armenia after a night of clashes between police and protests linked to a four-day hostage, Armenian Health Ministry claimed.

"While the crisis began as a criminal act by small, radical and fringe opposition group with a little support, the incident has escalated into a deeper and more divisive confrontation driven by a combination of serious discontent within the country and a sense of accumulated frustration with an unpopular government," said Director of Armenia's Regional Studies Center.

On July 17, a group of armed men entered the territory of the Armenian police patrol department in the Erebuni district of Yerevan and took several people hostage. The attackers demand the release of Armenian opposition figure Jirair Sefilyan, who was arrested nearly a month ago on charges of illegal possession of arms. They also claim resignation of Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.

During the seizure of the building one policeman was killed and four were injured. For almost a week, the attackers held four policemen in hostage, including the deputy chief of Armenian police major-General Vardan Yeghiazaryan and the deputy chief of Yerevan police, Colonel Valeri Osipyan.

Following the long-lasting talks, the armed group on July 23 released all of the hostages. Nevertheless, the armed group refuses to lay arms down and surrender to the authorities.