No to Plunder says they may block Baghramyan and Mashtots again (video)
If Serzh Sargsyan and Prime Minister Hovik Abrahamyan fail to meet the three demands of the No to Plunder initiative, their rule in the country will be considered inappropriate, the initiative group announced on July 13. Does it mean that the No to Plunder initiative, the main organizer of the street protests against the rising electricity prices in Armenia, will call for the resignation of Sargsyan and Abrahamyan? The group members refrained from giving a concrete answer and repeated that they would consider their rule inappropriate. The initiative today reiterated their three demands: to revoke the decision of the Public Services Regulatory Commission to raise the electricity tariffs by 6.93 drams ( over 16 percent), to reconsider the current tariffs and lower them, to punish the police officers who ordered and committed violence against protesters and journalists on June 23. All other demands punished in the press on behalf of the initiative are false, the group members said today. On Tuesday, July 14, the initiative plans to hold a march to the Prosecutor General’s Office, demanding that police officers who used force against protesters and journalists in a June 23 crackdown on Baghramyan Avenue be punished. City authorities have been notified of this march in proper order. “We are glad that the relevant bodies are investigating the violence against journalists but we think that everyone who used violence against protesters must be punished. All detained protesters were subjected to violence and badmouthed but none of the officials standing there interfered,” said Maxim Sargsyan, a member of the No to Plunder initiative. The young activists also dismissed the reports about the alleged break-up of the movement. “We are all together. There are people who are affiliated with political parties but it does not matter, we are all citizens of Armenia. Simply, certain people have problems with time and cannot always be on our side,” said Artush Chibukhchyan. The No to Plunder has not decided yet whether it will participate in the audit in the Electric Networks of Armenia or not. “Every year, they conduct a financial audit in the company, but every year the electricity tariffs are raised. Everything will be meaningless unless they conduct a technical audit. We shall decide on our involvement after they say what kind of audit they are going to conduct,” said Sofia Hovsepyan. In reply to A1+ whether they did not leave Baghramyan Avenue early given the fact that they have not been given a definite answer yet, the initiative members said, “Whatever happened, happened. When we unblocked Baghramyan we continued the protest at Liberty Square. We did not go home, this is a wrong opinion.” Maxim Sargsyan added that they are likely to block Baghramyan and Mashtots of the authorities ignore their demands.
