New Arrests Reported as Citizens Gather Near Jermuk Police Station

New arrests have been reported. When we arrived to express our demands to the Jermuk police and the mayor, the protest was ending, and a dialogue began between the participants and the police, which could be described as a verbal dispute, followed by an action. This was stated by Shirak Buniatyan, one of the activists against the exploitation of the Amulsar mine, in an interview with Tert.am.

Buniatyan noted that their protest had ended and they were now waiting for the two arrested individuals to be released so they could leave. “I believe that after the revolution, we should have forgotten about dragging people into the station for verbal disputes,” he emphasized.

He explained that the purpose of their gathering was to support the three individuals who had been arrested and charged with hooliganism. Buniatyan mentioned that, according to their information, no individuals had been detained by Lydian, nor had there been any searches conducted in their homes. He stated that the document indicated that there had been a brawl.

“The document does not state that the guards from Amulsar went and beat people. It mentions a brawl. It was indicated that there were injured individuals on both sides, but today we see that, for some reason, if a person is against mining in Amulsar, they are constantly being detained,” he stressed.

He recalled that previously, employees of Lydian had utilized violence, even attacking a police officer, and a citizen had given testimony against them, yet no legal assessment has been made up to this point.

When asked for clarification, he mentioned that two days ago violence had occurred from both sides, and the document stated that a brawl had taken place between the two sides in the village of Gndevaz, with the article mentioning hooliganism under the fourth paragraph of Article 258.

“In any case, something happened, and it is necessary to clarify who was involved and from which side. If we are talking about sticks, let’s find out who brought those sticks. We urge transparency to avoid the impression of discrimination. We do not want to believe that it exists, but the struggle for Amulsar continuously shows that people who oppose mining are held accountable,” he said.

Regarding the three arrested individuals, Buniatyan reported that they were taken from Yeghegnadzor to Yerevan, and a petition for their arrest will be submitted tomorrow. Residents who support Amulsar are awaiting this decision, after which they will determine what kind of urgent actions to take, but they will remain peaceful.

It should be noted that earlier, another protest occurred near the Jermuk city hall.

Buniatyan called out to the police during a Facebook live stream: “We do not want to cast doubt on your impartiality, but during this struggle for Amulsar, we frequently encounter discriminatory treatment towards us. It’s unclear why, every time people fighting for Amulsar are detained, they are charged under hooliganism, which is somewhat humiliating,” he stated.

Later on, he suggested waiting until tomorrow for the decision regarding the arrest to be made.

Previously, it was reported that three individuals were arrested on suspicion of hooliganism for an incident where residents of Gndevaz were assaulted by activists on September 15.