STATEMENT

An alarming incident happened during the rally on Republic Square on May 9

At May 9, Sometime around 9:00p.m., a “Kamaz” truck traveling against one way traffic of Vazgen Sargsyan street, entered the Republic Square attempting to run over a crowd of people which coincidentally was where the Council members of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and their supporters were standing.

Fortunately, the crowd managed to stop the truck and tried to find out who the driver was and why was he driving into the crowd.

Although there was a large number of police officers stationed in and around the Republic Square guarding every entrance and exit and even though a number of them were standing a few feet away from the truck, nevertheless, they approached the truck unexplained late, however they immediately arrested the driver and whisked him away in an ambulance that unexpectedly appeared at the scene of the crime.

Taking into account that it is the duty of the police to ensure the safety of the participants of a peaceful demonstration, by preventing all possible malicious provocations or harmful innocent acts, we consider this incident at the minimum to be the result of criminal negligence of the police, if not the direct result of a criminal act organized and participated by the law enforcement itself.

It is mind boggling how could this truck be able to enter the Republic Square and drive onto the crowd without being noticed and stopped by the police, when there was a very large presence of police officers, both in uniform and undercover, at every single step.
We assess this incident to be an attempt by the authorities to kill or maim the demonstrators in order to create an atmosphere of fear by terrorizing the public at large with the purpose to discourage others from participating in future demonstrations.

At the same time, we are sure that this regime will not be able to intimidate or oppress the people with such criminal acts. Furthermore, the entire responsibility for this criminal provocation falls on the shoulders of the ruling regime and its law enforcement structures.

Press service of the NDA
10.05.2024, Yerevan