YEREVAN, November 12. /ARKA./ Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said it has detained protesters who stormed yesterday the government headquarters in the capital Yerevan and other government buildings where they ransacked offices and broke windows.
The outrage was sparked by a trilateral agreement reached by Armenia, Russia and Azerbaijan to the end the war in Nagorno-Karabakh.
According to the National Security Service, the protesters called for disobedience to the legitimate demands of the authorities and use of violence against some individuals. They also made public calls for the seizure of power and the violent overthrow of the constitutional order.
The NSS recalled that on the same day, the protesters used violence against the speaker of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan in Yerevan ‘in order to force him not to comply with the provisions of the agreement, and also voiced threats against members of the government and the Prime Minister.’
The NSS said a criminal case was initiated on the grounds of several paragraphs of the Criminal Code of Armenia.
“As part of the investigation, about 20 people were identified and detained. Most of them have already expressed regret in connection with the incident and behaved like law-abiding citizens,” the NSS said.
The NSS also added that numerous witnesses have been questioned, and items stolen from the government building have been found and seized.
“The NSS calls on citizens to comply with the requirements of the martial law, to show high civil responsibility, not to succumb to provocations, not to subordinate narrow personal or party interests to public interests, not to mislead the public under the guise of patriotism, not to endanger the life and health of servicemen still on the battlefield. The NSS also warns that the state will use all its tools to take adequate measures as a result of the current situation,” the statement said. -0-