The witnesses of March 1 incident said.
Will the incidents of the evening on March 1 took place if the policemen didn’t attack and use violence on peaceful demonstrators early in the morning? The history doesn’t recognize the questions consist of “if”. But the conversations which the “Aravot’s” correspondent Naira Mamikonyan had with the participants of demonstrations, who gathered near French Embassy, prove that they were angry at the morning incidents and that anger was the motive of their actions.
A man, according to a saved record told our correspondent: “I have come here to complain about our freedoms, to demand our rights … My friends were in the Freedom Square that night and they told that it was a nightmare there, the police were beating everybody.”
Another man told: “I was outside and when I came I saw that the Freedom Square was surrounded by the police and nobody was allowed to enter or go out from it. There were at least 5-6 thousands of demonstrators in the square”. A woman added: “A lot of people were brought to the police station”. Another man added: “Passers by were also brought to the police station”. The injured citizen whose photo was printed in our newspaper, said: “At 6:00am an armed attack was launched against the peaceful demonstrators. I have such a bad headache”.
Another witnessed said: “I am Varduhi Sukiasyan from Haghtanak village. I have always been in the Freedom Square. Today several provokers in civil cloths entered the Square and began quarreling. The army entered in first but we managed to push them back, then the “Spetsnaz” came. They beat a woman by truncheons in front of the French Embassy. They have no right to demand the recognition of the Armenian Genocide from the world; they should demand it from our army in first. I will struggle till the end”.
Naira Mamikonyan also talked to the woman who was confirming the news about the killed child and was wanted by the Prosecutor’s office for such a provocation. She told to Naira Mamikonyan that day: “I have come here because I am angry about the fact that peaceful demonstrators have been attacked. They should be responsible for it”. We do not publish the rest of her curses but the meaning of it was that only the foreigners can act in such a violent way.
Mkrtich Armenakyan who described just the opposite picture of the events by “Haylur” gave an interview to the “Aravot” as well. “It was about 6:20 am when we were attacked without any warning from four sides. Then Karabagh’s special forces joined them. It was written on their shelters that they are from Karabagh . They were beating everybody without any mercy; they even beat a child by truncheon. We do not want to leave here. Either our president will be Levon Ter-Petrosyan or we will leave this country.”