New Footage: The Red Berets Assaulted Us – What Happened in Nor Norq

On October 20th, in Nor Norq, the municipality leveled carports built on a site that had turned into a dump. Zhanna Dilyaryan, one of the owners of these carports, reported to LURER.com about how the red berets used force against residents, including children.

"The area where we built the carports had previously served as a landfill. We cleaned the dump and built carports in its place. No resident opposed our decision. On the day of the demolition, I could not have imagined that so many people would stand against the police alongside us. Their arrival was very sudden; they came in the evening, prepared. One of my neighbors came in fear and said that a tractor, an ambulance, and a squad of police had entered the yard," explained the citizen.

She said she asked the police to show them the decision to demolish the carports and provide them with 2 days' notice, arguing that she had spent a substantial amount of money on them. "I wouldn’t allow them to demolish those carports; I asked for 2 days. If they are going to demolish them, let me do it because I’ve spent money. Each gate alone cost me 600,000 drams. They replied that I didn't have that time," Dilyaryan stated.

She emphasized that her distress was not merely about the demolition of their carport built with honest labor but about the inhuman treatment from the police. "They could have demolished the carport, but what they did that day was inhumane. They have disappointed us to the point that the only solution seems to leave the country. The red berets hit my hand so hard that I haven’t been able to move it for 2 days. They pushed me down to the ground and then took my husband’s friend away in the car, continuing to beat that poor guy. They beat him so much that his whole eye swelled and turned blue. I had blocked the front of that car; I did not allow them to take my husband’s friend. One of the red berets said, ‘Don’t let the car go.’ They were even ready to run over me. My husband’s friend’s wife and I fainted, but they were undeterred. They even tugged at the children; their behavior was not human-like," she shares tearfully.

According to our interlocutor, the permit paper was shown to them only hours later, meanwhile, the police directed the carport owner to a website. "They told me to go to the website to see, that it’s there. I said I didn’t have the internet, how could I see? After 2 hours, they brought some paper claiming it was the permit decision, but they still didn’t give it to us; we saw it out of the corner of our eyes and they hid it. Today my husband said that paper was illegal, as there was no signature on the seal or next to it," Dilyaryan noted.