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Armenia’s Police Chief Valeriy Osipyan decried last week’s unrest in the northern Armenian town of Ijevan as ‘hooliganism’, adding criminal cases have been launched into the violent incident.

On 17 July a group of people blocked a major highway in the town leading to the main Armenian-Georgian border crossing to protest against the government’s ban on illegal logging in nearby forests.

Clashes broke out between police and protesters after the latter defied police orders to unblock the highway. As a result, several police officers and civilians suffered injuries and were hospitalized.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Investigative Committee said criminal charges have been pressed against a total of 21 protesters so far for their failure to obey police orders and violent assault on police officers.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, the police chief said their goal is to track down all those involved in the violence and bring them to justice.

“29 citizens were detained, of whom 13 were remanded into custody, 10 others were arrested two days ago. The work will be continuous in this direction, we have a list featuring the names of those people who committed hooliganism and inflicted injuries to police officers,” Osipyan said.

Commenting on the illegal logging in the town’s nearby forests, he stressed police will fight against that ‘unaccepable, vicious practice’ in the most resolute manner not only in Ijevan, but also in other regions across the country.

He said some individuals are suspected of being behind the logging, but didn’t elaborate on the matter not to harm the investigation.