News - Special police detain Armenia opposition MP by dragging, hitting him

A little while ago, the special police forces detained, by dragging and hitting, opposition MP Ashot Simonyan, who had blocked a street with his car, from Republic Square in downtown Yerevan. Opposition lawmaker Kristine Vardanyan was also there. In addition, a video, where it can be seen how the police hit Simonyan, trying to take him into custody, was posted on the internet. The police informed that an internal investigation was ordered regarding the attempt to detain Simonyan. Protest actions have started in Armenia since early Monday morning. In particular, the Yerevan-Ashtarak and Yerevan-Armavir motorways are closed off by the protesters. Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the Tavush for the Homeland movement and Primate of the Diocese of Tavush of the Armenian Apostolic Church, as he had said Sunday, also blocked a road himself in downtown Yerevan with his black SUV. Other protesters have closed off several other streets. A total of 137 people were detained as of Monday 9:30am; among them is opposition MP Artur Sargsyan.