On Saturday, March 23, at 6pm, an unidentified man entered Liberty Square and, yelling and pushing violently through the crowd, made his way to the stage, where Raffi K. Hovannisian was taking part in the Barevolution’s weekly folk concert. As the man closed in on his target, the 20 or so policemen, assigned to keep the peace at the Square, stood idly by—deciding to intervene only when the citizens themselves blocked the potential assassin, when he was within ten meters of Hovannisian. Less than an hour earlier, those very policemen had been most efficient in mobilizing to form a human wall between Hovannisian’s supporters and a small patch of grass to prevent a veteran tight-rope walker from making a short acrobatic presentation.
It is a matter of public record that Raffi Hovannisian has been leading the most peaceful and constitutional popular movement in the history of the Republic of Armenia, and has struggled in earnest to create a culture of mutual respect between citizen and policeman. So it is with great regret that we must express our deep disappointment in the state police who, in their fulfillment of unrightful political directives, failed to take timely action to thwart a possible attempt on Hovannisian’s life and to ensure the safety of citizens at Liberty Square.
We call on the police, furthermore, to reveal immediately the identity of the potential assassin and the details of the criminal charges to be filed against him. And finally we demand that the police immediately change their increasingly hostile demeanor toward the very citizens whom they have been called to protect—but whom, instead, they continue to drive toward distrust, disobedience, and a final rejection of the regime.
The people’s patience is not without limit. Full responsibility for all violations or violence committed against it, together with any measures that the people might take in response, shall fall on the de facto authorities and their agencies of enforcement.
Raffi Hovannisian Headquarters
25 March 2013
Yerevan