Police used stun grenades on reporters at Yerevan protest: Pastinfo
Riot police cracked down on demonstrators demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation outside the Armenian parliament in central Yerevan on Wednesday.
The violence erupted in the afternoon, resulting in injuries to 101 civilians and police officers. The Health Ministry said later that 16 people remained hospitalized. Police officers used stun grenades and other forcible tactics against the protesters, making around 100 arrests.
Stun grenades were also fired at journalists covering the protest, Pastinfo reports, stating one of them detonated at the area where they were stationed.
Around a dozen reporters and cameramen, including Alpha News journalist Arpine Baghdasaryan and cameraman Hovhannes Hakobyan, MediaHub reporter Nare Gevorgyan, ABC Media reporter Nane Hayrapetyan and its cameraman, as well as News, Armlur and CivilNet journalists were injured by police.
Reporter and TV host Abraham Gasparyan suffered a severe head injury after being beaten up by special police officers.
“Although several other journalists were not physically injured, their health condition worsened. Later, police used special measures against civilians, firing stun grenades at protesters and reporters in an effort to cause injuries to them,” Pastinfo said.
“Moreover, the Investigative Committee promptly launched a criminal probe into alleged mass unrests, with lawyers warning that fabricated charges could be brought against some of the protesters still in police custody,” the report added.
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