6000 rally in Armenia after police crackdown

Nearly 6,000 demonstrators rallied in the Armenian capital on Tuesday after riot police used water cannon to break up an earlier protest against electricity price hikes.

Waving national flags and chanting "Shame!" and "No to robbery!" angry protesters flooded Yerevan's central Freedom Square Tuesday evening before staging a march towards the presidential palace cordoned off by riot police, an AFP journalist reported from the scene.

They also demanded the release of nearly 240 people that were detained at dawn when police dispersed a similar protest near the presidential palace.

"We will not surrender," young protester Artak Harutyunyan told AFP.

"We will continue our peaceful struggle until the government fulfils our demands."

Public anger has mounted over the government's decision to hike power prices by over 16 percent from August 1 in the poor ex-Soviet country of 3.2 million, already badly hit by the economic crisis in Russia.
Some 4,000 protesters marched on the presidential palace on Monday, accusing President Serzh Sarkisian's government of failing to combat poverty in the landlocked Caucasus nation.

Several hundred of them remained on the street overnight, holding a sit-in and blocking traffic.

In the early hours of Tuesday, hundreds of riot police moved in to disperse the demonstrators, using batons and water cannon to break up the rally in the most serious confrontation between protesters and police in the past few years.

Plainclothes police also beat up journalists and destroyed or confiscated their equipment.

Most of the detained protesters had been released by Tuesday evening.

The overnight rally was the culmination of several days of protests aimed at forcing Sarkisian to cancel the tariff hikes, with protests also taking place Monday in several other cities.

- Journalists targeted -

The office of the prosecutor general said it had opened a probe into "hooliganism and disturbing public order."

If found guilty, the protesters could face a fine of some $100 (90 euros) or a jail term of up to one year.

Armenia's health ministry said 25 people, including 11 police, were treated for injuries including fractures.

The United States embassy in Armenia said it was concerned by police violence and called for a "full and transparent investigation."

"We are troubled by reports that journalists and their equipment were specifically targeted during the operation," the embassy said.

The Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe called on the authorities to "take steps to ensure restraint on the part of law enforcement representatives toward members of the media."

The opposition Armenian National Congress party boycotted a parliament session in protest against the police crackdown, with other opposition MPs demanding that an extraordinary session be convened.

- 'Social rebellion' -

The protest has been organised through social media by a non-partisan group called "No to Robbery."

"We are masters of our country, we will not allow electricity price hikes, we will not let our people be robbed," the group said on Facebook.

Some political analysts said the protests could have serious consequences.

"Protesters have no links to any political forces whatsoever. This is a purely social rebellion," independent analyst Stepan Safarian told AFP.

"We're witnessing an unprecedented situation in Armenia where a civil protest movement is taking root amid widespread poverty," he said.

"All this may lead to political change."

Armenia's power distribution company, which is owned by the Russian state-controlled holding Inter RAO, requested the government raise electricity tariffs due to a sharp devaluation of the national currency, the dram.

Moscow-ally Armenia has been hit hard by the economic crisis in Russia brought on by falling oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine.

Exports to Russia -- Armenia's foremost trading partner -- have fallen, as have remittances from Armenians working there, an important source of income for many families.

In January, the country joined the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union, further increasing Yerevan's dependence on its former imperial master.

The country is economically isolated as its borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan are blocked due to ongoing international disputes.

In 2008, some 10 opposition protesters were killed by riot police during opposition protests in the wake of a contested presidential ballot.