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One Dead As Armed Men Storm Yerevan Police Station, Take Hostages

July 17, 2016
by RFE/RL's Armenian Service

YEREVAN -- A group of armed men from an opposition group stormed a district police headquarters and exchanged gunfire with police in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, early in the morning on July 17, the National Security Service said in a statement.

The NSS said that a police officer was killed and two others were wounded in the shootout in the Erebuni police station.

Earlier, the security service had said the attackers were holding several hostages in the police headquarters, adding that "negotiations are under way to release them peacefully."

Security officials say two of the hostages have been released.

The opposition group Founding Parliament issued a statement demanding the release of the group's leader, Zhirayr Sefilian, a fierce government critic who was arrested last month.

A top security police official, General Hunan Poghosian, confirmed that security forces were in negotiations with the gunmen. But he excluded Sefilian's release.

Poghosian urged the armed men to surrender.

"If they don't listen to our appeal, we will neutralize them, because killers cannot be dealt with in any other way," he said. "But for now, we are continuing the negotiations."

Varuzhan Avetisian, a spokesman for the group, has also announced that "they are starting a rebellion" and an attempt to "overthrow the government" and "release political prisoners."

The group has released a video on Facebook, calling on Armenian citizens to take to the streets against their government.

The video showed several men in flak jackets and armed with Kalashnikovs, as well as several hostages being held inside the police building.

"We are doing this for you. People, take to the streets!" one of the gunmen said in the video, while also calling for the release "of all political prisoners."

Police have cordoned off the area, with armored vehicles blocking off the road to the police station. The NSS statement said that law-enforcement agencies were functioning as normal to uphold public safety.

"The law-enforcement agencies fully control the situation and are taking all necessary measures to resolve it," it said.

President Serzh Sarkisian held consultations with security officials to decide how best to handle the situation, his office said, saying he had been told that the siege was completely under control.

Residents of nearby apartment buildings said they heard several explosions early in the morning. "There were also many gunshots afterwards," a local resident said.

Meanwhile, opposition lawmaker and outspoken government critic Nikol Pashinian visited the police station and spoke with the attackers.

Pashinian, the leader of the newly established Civic Agreement opposition party, said one of the attackers inside the police station was critically wounded in the head.

He also said a policeman, who was feeling unwell, has been released by the hostage-takers.

The Founding Parliament group frequently stages street protests in Yerevan, demanding the resignation of President Serzh Sarkisian.

The group is particularly critical of the way the government has been handling a long-running conflict in Azerbaijan's breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh, the territory claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan.

Sefilian and six of his supporters were arrested on June 20 after the authorities initially said they were preparing a plot to seize several government buildings and telecommunication facilities in Yerevan.

He was formally charged with illegal acquisition and possession of weapons. Sefilian says the case against him is politically motivated.

Just days before his arrest, Sefilian announced plans to set up a new opposition movement called the National Resistance Committee. He said the new movement would try to topple the government "with the help of the people and the army."

Sefilian was arrested in 2006 over calls for "a violent overthrow of the government." He was released in 2008.

In 2015, Sefilian was arrested again along with several of his supporters on suspicion of preparing a coup, but released shortly afterward.

With reporting by AFP and AP

Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/armenia- opposition-group-attack-police- station-hostages/27863123.html

Copyright (c) 2016. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.