YEREVAN. - Yerevan Deputy Chief of Police Valeri Osipyan has just warned No to Plunder initiative members that in case tents are installed in Liberty Square, the police will have the right to use force to remove the sit-in participants from the square. Osipyan justified his announcement, saying they were informed that the sit-in participants are going to install tents in Liberty Square this night.  

‘No to Plunder’ initiative members assured Osipyan that this information does not correspond to reality, saying they will themselves remove anyone who will try to install a tent.

The also warned Osipyan to refrain from taking abrupt measures if the police sees tents installed, giving them time to settle the issue.  

The number of the sit-in participants has abruptly increased. The sit-in is controlled by a large number of police officers.

As reported earlier, during the protest against electricity price hike, ‘No to Plunder’ initiative suddenly announced they are launching a 3-day sit-in in the Liberty Square, setting a deadline for the authorities till 19:00 Monday evening. In case the decision on electricity price hike isn’t revoked, they are planning to march to the president’s residence.

Despite the numerous protest actions over the electricity price hike, the new electricity tariff was approved at the session of Armenia’s Public Services Regulatory Commission of Armenia (PSRC) on June 17.  The electricity price has gone up by 6,93 AMD, reaching 48,78 AMD (previously 41,85 AMD) per 1 kWh.  Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) CJSC had proposed to raise the electricity price by 17 AMD per 1 kWh.