Over 100 injured after police deploy stun grenades against Yerevan protesters

Over 100 people including several police officers have been injured outside the Armenian parliament in Yerevan, after police deployed stun grenades against protesters.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet took part in heated debates in parliament, as supporters of the anti-government Tavush for the Motherland Movement attempted to storm the building.

Protesters outside parliament reportedly tried to tear through police barricades, with footage showing protesters throwing rocks and bottles at police stationed around the building. The police then used stun grenades to disperse the crowds.

Armenia’s Health Ministry announced that as of Thursday morning, 101 people, including 18 police officers, had sought medical assistance following the protest. Most were since discharged from hospital.

Footage also surfaced of a man picking up a stun grenade which exploded in his hand. The man’s hand reportedly had to be amputated.

Journalists were also reported to have been hit by stun grenades.

As of Wednesday evening, the authorities had confirmed that 98 people had been detained, with a lawyer representing protesters, Ruben Melikyan, saying that 28 remain in detention.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee identified 40 people who they said engaged in ‘mass disorder’, stating that they were launching criminal proceedings against them.

‘Defending Armenia’s statehood’

The police’s violent dispersal of the protesters was met with condemnation by Armenia’s opposition, which largely supports the Tavush for the Motherland movement.

However, the following day, Pashinyan stated that the police’s response to the protests was ‘legal and professional’.

‘The protesters tried to break through the police cordon by force in order to attack the highest legislative body of the country. The police defended Armenia’s legislature, defended Armenia’s statehood’, he said.

He accused the movement of being led by the Catholicos of the Armenian Church, Karekin II, and by former president Robert Kocharyan. He said that the ‘instigators’ should be brought to justice.

Armenia’s President Vahagn Khachatursyan also criticised the protesters, saying that they were warned ‘many times to refrain from excessive tension’.

The Armenian Church condemned the authorities’ statements as ‘reprehensible’, stating that accusing the Church of organising the protests was ‘baseless and false news’.

The Church also condemned the police’s dispersal of the protests, calling it ‘obviously illegal’ and called on the authorities to ‘refrain from unacceptable manifestations of violence, hatred, and enmity’.

Archbishop Galstanyan last month suspended his priesthood with the Church’s blessing in order to become prime minister in an interim government once Pashinyan resigns.

The Union of Informed Citizens, an anti-corruption group, stated that the police used around 25 stun grenades on Wednesday and that they could not find evidence that the police had warned protesters before deploying them.

Programmes director Daniel Ionnasyan wrote on Facebook that the police’s use of five stun grenades was ‘proportionate and necessary’, while the remaining 20 were used against protesters ‘who were retreating, fleeing, and providing support to the wounded’.