YEREVAN. – Students on Monday morning kicked off their protest outside Yerevan State University, where they are starting a march. They are chanting, “Lecturer, join [us]!”

Protests are taking place in various parts of the city.

A group of demonstrators have blocked a downtown intersection of the capital city of Armenia.

Separately, the Yerevan State Medical University students have launched a protest action at another downtown Yerevan intersection. Police, however, used force against and detained some of them.

As reported earlier, Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan and Nikol Pashinyan, the leader of “My Step” initiative—which protests against ex-President Sargsyan being elected Prime Minister by the parliament—opposition Civil Contract Party Political Council member, and National Assembly “Way Out” (Yelk) Faction head, had a very short talk before the media on Sunday morning.

About an hour later, police used force against demonstrators on a street in Yerevan, and they took dozens of people into custody, including Civil Contract Party members and MPs Nikol Pashinyan, Ararat Mirzoyan, and Sasun Mikayelyan. 

Later, three of them were formally detained.

As of Monday 12am, police have taken 315 people into custody.