The organizers of the Electric Yerevan protest, which has effectively shut down Baghramyan Avenue for the past two weeks, are looking to revitalize the movement against electricity rate hikes in the country.
On July 4, Davit Sanasaryan, the public relations coordinator of #ElectricYerevan addressed the crowd and said that they will continue their blockade of Baghramyan Avenue as long as their demands are not met.
In his speech, Sanasaryan said, “It has now been two weeks that we have taken to the street, night and day, in the name of Armenia’s present and future and we have shown that we are determined.”
He said that authorities used excessive force and different methods of provocation to halt the movement. “They tried to scare citizens and in some cases they were successful,” Sanasaryan noted and went on to say — to cheers from the crowds — that citizens have manned and held the barricade.
Over the last number of days, crowds at the protest had diminished drastically as there was no clear leadership articulating steps to move the demands forward. Taking note of this situation, Sanasaryan said that many people accused the movement of not having accomplished anything.
“We did the most important thing,” he said. “We are standing on the number one street of the Republic, where the Constitutional Court is, where the National Assembly is and where the Presidential Palace is and we have held the barricade.”
He stressed that organizers have not remained idle in the interim and have tried to evaluate the situation, plan future steps to ensure that they do not fail in their mission.
He appealed to everyone on the street, to the youth and the older generation. “We are obligated to realize steps, otherwise we will remain few and that is what the authorities want.”
“Today, I am appealing to all of you and to those who thought we had had a victory after Serzh Sargsyan’s speech, or those who felt the movement was dying day-by-day and who stopped coming; to those who didn’t want to take upon themselves the responsibility; to those who are waiting to see how things develop to decide their position,” Sanasaryan said.
“I am appealing to the intellectuals who didn’t remain indifferent to us with their thoughts and words, who stood by the Armenian people. The whole world is following us, show the world and the Armenian people that you are still standing in unity beside the Armenian people.”
Sanasaryan also appealed to the clergy. He said that the Armenian Church doesn’t belong to the regime. He appealed to the clergy, “Show the authorities that you are standing, demanding beside the Armenian people.”
He then addressed the Diaspora: “You have already shown your solidarity. I am appealing to all those who protested in front of Armenian embassies and consulates around the world.”
“I am appealing to those activists, who stood shoulder-to-shoulder in other protests, to those men and women and I am appealing to you now that we hold the front line together,” he said.
Sanasaryan made it clear that they were not preparing for battle and said they will continue with their peaceful actions and explained to the protesters what their next steps were going to be: As long as their demands are not met, Baghramyan Avenue would continue to be shut down.
Organizers have decided that if one of their three demands are not met by Monday at 21:00, they will begin the One Step Forward program, which envisions moving the garbage bins that have been utilized as a makeshift barricade, one step forward toward the Presidential Palace.
The protesters have three major demands: to review and annul the commission’s decision to increase electricity tariffs; to review the current rate, and to punish the police officers who were involved in the violence against peaceful protesters on Baghramyan Avenue on the morning of June 23, along with those who gave the illegal order to carry out the violence.
“We will still dance and sing; happy days are ahead; the light will open and we will reach our goals,” Sanasaryan said. He told the protesters that all the authorities could do is to detain them, press criminal charges but they will never be broken.
In his concluding remarks, Sanasaryan said, “We are Armenia, we are the real authorities, we are the owners of the country, we have ethics and most importantly, we will not be sold out.”
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When Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission unanimously approved the electricity rate hike on June 17, it sparked nationwide protests. The Russian-managed Electric Network Armenia company had applied to the Commission to increase electricity tariffs due to a $250 million debt it had accrued. Critics of the company said it was due to poor governance and mismanagement.
The day the decision was made public, a group of youth activists from the ARF-Dashnaktsutyun gathered in front of the PSRC’s headquarters to protest the decision. Protesters threw eggs and tomatoes at the building; clashes erupted with the police, and several activists were arrested and released hours later.
On June 19, thousands of Armenian citizens gathered in Yerevan’s Liberty Square to continue protesting the electricity price hike. Among the organizers of the protest was the No to Plunder civic initiative. They announced that if their demands were not met in three days, they would take the protests to Baghramyan Avenue where the Presidential Palace is located.
At 19:00 on Monday June 22, after their requests were not met, thousands of protesters, many of them young people, began marching toward Baghramyan Avenue where they were met with riot police blocking the way to the Presidential Palace. Yerevan’s Deputy Police Chief Valeri Osipyan warned the protesters that their march was illegal and threatened to use force if they did not turn back.
In the early morning hours of June 23, at approximately 5:30am, riot police began moving towards the crowd, using water cannons against the peaceful protesters. Police officers dressed in civilian clothing used batons to drag people away from the scene and arrested hundreds of people. It is estimated that at least 25 people were taken to the hospital as a result of the violence, and 237 people were arrested -an unprecedented number in Yerevan. Journalists were also targeted and many of them had their equipment confiscated or damaged. Other reporters were detained by the police.