However, I still think the government are not going to risk any shit happening on 1 March. Then again, they should have also allowed the memorials at the requested locations anyway.

Dunno, I think and hope that nothing bad will happen. For now, I think the momentum in the immediate aftermath of the election has obviously gone. If they manage to rally 15,000 it’s normal (a la 2004), but I’m guestimating 3-4,000 maximum on 1 March.

Which is also another reason why the authorities should allow the requested locations. I don’t believe the extra-parliamentary opposition will use the occasion to provoke any clashes.

Besides, even if it turns out to be more, so be it.

[...]
The “Special Regiment” youth movement was planning to hold a picket and put on a show in front of the building of the Central Electoral Commission.

Around 2:20 p.m. today nearly 40 youth were walking from Koryun Street to the Central Electoral Commission with signs and tricolor flags in their hands. But the youth had not taken a couple of steps before the police officers prohibited them to move forward.

After the youth announced that they were only 40 people and have the right to organize a march, Robert Melkonyan stole the signs of one of the members and broke it. The other police officers did the same and pushed the youth back, including Deputy of the “Heritage” faction Zaruhi Postanjyan. Not after the pushing and shoving of police officers did activists start to move back and yell “Serzhik, leave” and “Shame on you”.

Police officers pushed the youth back into the building of the Armenian National Congress located on Koryun Street.

When member of the Armenian National Movement Aram Manukyan tried to find out from Robert Melkonyan why they were pushing the youth back and breaking the signs, the high-ranking police officer started to push Aram Manukyan too. They pushed everybody back and closed the door. Swearing was heard from both sides and the police officers even started pushing the girls and did not allow journalists to do their job.

Deputy Zaruhi Postanjyan demanded Robert Melkonyan to give her a document stating that police officers have the right to drive away a crowd.

“Show me the decision for attacking the youth members or breaking their signs,” said Zaruhi Postanjyan. But Robert Melkonyan refuted that and said that nothing like that had happened (the clips taken by “A1+” clearly show how Robert Melkonyan breaks the sign-ed.)

http://assembly.coe.int/ASP/NewsManager/EMB_NewsManagerView.asp?ID=4409&L=2

When you read the Armenian laws, they usually make sense and are quite good on paper. When implemented, though, you get a sense that you are dealing with a bunch of thugs who twist the laws to do whatever they want to do. It’s logical that you cannot have a public gathering in a place where there is already a public gathering. But with the Armenian government, they place a public gathering where you want to gather so that they don’t allow you in a perfectly legal way.

It’s a monstrous practice.