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Armenian Prosecutor General’s Office received the letter of ‘No to Plunder’, a civic initiative that organized the first wave of protests in Armenia against a rise in electricity tariffs.   In the letter, ‘No To Plunder’ demands punishment of those responsible for the events on Bagramyan Avenue in Yerevan early in the morning of June 23, according to the press service of Prosecutor’s Office.

Prosecutor General’s Office examined the facts indicated in the letter and decided that although a criminal case was opened in that connection, nevertheless the letter should be sent to a body conducting a preliminary investigation, in particular to the Special Investigation Service of Armenia.

No to Plunder civic initiative, which organized the first wave of protests against the power tariff rise in Armenia, on July 14 staged a march and a rally at Office of Prosecutor General to demand punishment of those responsible for the June 23 events on Bagramyan Avenue. A leader of the civic movement, Maksim Sargsyan , said they demand that criminal cases be opened not only against policemen who committed violations against reporters, but also policemen to have committed violations against citizens. He said they may start a sit-in protest unless they receive guarantees that those guilty will be brought to account.

As was reported, earlier Armenian Police Chief Vladimir Gasparyan - while commenting in an interview with GALA TV Station on the events on Bagramyan Avenue in Yerevan early June 23 (when water cannon were used to disperse the protesters against a power tariff hike) – apologized for law enforcers’ actions against reporters. He said that “an official investigation will soon shed light on what happened”. “There have obviously been some omissions which I noticed in work, especially with regard to mass media representatives. I apologize for that. I ordered an official investigation and we will deal with the matter. I know that technical equipment was damaged. The police will reimburse the reporters for material damage,” the police chief said at the time.