Sent to Disaster Zone to Avoid Participation in Protests: ‘Hraparak’

The newspaper ‘Hraparak’ reports: ‘The governor of Lori province and the provincial administration are gathering volunteers from the region to send to the disaster zone to work. The governor has met with the heads of universities and schools, instructing them to recruit volunteers. And although it is labeled as ‘volunteer’ work, in reality, they are being compelled to join, especially those who have participated in marches and protests.

According to our information, rectors and directors are even threatening their employees. They claim that the rescue service is unable to organize the work, and human resources are needed for various tasks, like cleaning the riverbed and the accumulated sludge.

Marina Nahapetyan, an employee coordinating the recruitment from the governor's office, told us that the recruitment is indeed voluntary: ‘We have only told the directors that if there are people who wish to help on a voluntary basis, they can contact us.’

However, residents of Lori province are complaining about why these tasks are not being assigned to the thousands of police officers who are paid high salaries by the state while crime is increasing in the country, leaving it unclear what they are occupied with besides dispersing protests.’