Police at around 5:30 to 6:00 am on June 23 with the help of special equipment and the use of force dispersed demonstrators who had staged a sit-in on Baghramyan Avenue since 8:00 pm on June 22.
The approximately 500 demonstrators and their more than 1,000 supporters were demanding the annulment of the decision to raise the electricity rate in Armenia by 6.93 AMD (about $0.01 USD). The new rate (in effect beginning August 1) will be 48.78 AMD/kWh ($0.10) instead of the previous 41.85 AMD/kWh ($0.09).
During police operations, journalists were injured while carrying out their professional duties. Police beat journalists, broke their professional equipment, and seized both camera equipment and smartphone memory cards.
See the live blog below for the reaction on social media to the violence against journalists in downtown Yerevan.
Anna Barseghyan
Gegham Vardanyan