- Title: ARMENIA: Armenian riot police break up election protest
- Date: 2nd March 2008
- Summary: (BN10) YEREVAN, ARMENIA (MARCH 1, 2008) (REUTERS) POLICE AND POLICE TRUCK BLOCKING ROAD PROTESTERS WALKING, SOME RUNNING, AWAY FROM CENTRAL SQUARE. GROUP OF PROTESTERS WALKING OUT OF SQUARE PROTESTERS CHANTING 'LEV-ON! LEV-ON!' (Ter-Petrossian, Opposition leader) NEAR SQUARE POLICE STANDING NEAR PROTESTERS PROTESTERS CHANTING, LINE OF POLICE IN RIOT GEAR AMBULANCE MAKES ITS WAY THROUGH CROWD OF PROTESTERS, COMES TO HALT. RIOT POLICE NEXT TO CROWDS PROTESTERS RUNNING
- Embargoed: 17th March 2008 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Armenia
- Country: Armenia
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA86EB1WACM959RUK3PTHKXGIAB
- Story Text: Armenian riot police break up a 10-day protest in the capital Yerevan by opposition supporters, who say last month's presidential election was rigged.
The streets of Yerevan were tense on Saturday (March 1) after Armenian riot police broke up a 10-day opposition protest early in the morning.
Several thousand opposition supporters had been protesting daily in Yerevan's Freedom Square since Prime Minister Serzh Sarksyan was elected to replace his ally Robert Kocharyan as president in a Feb. 19 vote.
The riot police moved into the square early on Saturday after authorities had said they were losing patience with the protests, led by Levon Ter-Petrosyan, Armenia's first president after independence from the Soviet Union.
Groups of opposition protesters chanting "Levon! Levon!" near the square. Police quickly moved in to disperse them, as riot police sealed off the square.
A Reuters correspondent at Freedom Square said it was now surrounded by several hundred police with riot shields and that they were not allowing anyone access.
Armenian opposition protesters say last month's presidential election was rigged.
Observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the Feb. 19 election broadly met Armenia's commitments on democracy, though there were some flaws. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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