The RA Police has made a statement in which says:
“Starting 19 April, 2018, ,Nikol Pashinyan organizes assemblies in different administrative districts of Yerevan, which have not been inform to the authorized body in accordance with the procedure provided by law, therefore no relevant decisions have been made on them. During illegal assemblies, including marches, Nikol Pashinyan and people instructed by him, periodically and grossly violate some provisions of the RA Law on Freedom of Assembly.
In particular, the competent authorities were not provide adequate information on the intended place of the assembly, the number of participants or technical facilities, the number of banners to use during the rally, and, in the case of the march, the march route and schedule, hindered free entry of the residents of the building, or other premises nearby, did not take the necessary measures during the rallies to ensure the normal course of the rally, did not inform the participants about the legal demand of the police to stop the gathering.
Moreover, illegal assemblies, including during the rally on 22.04.2018, Nikol Pashinyan continues to call on participants and other people to block the streets of the city, to block the entrance to the buildings of the state bodies, to break into mentioned areas, including the areas of special protection, to dismantle their work. As a result of these calls, the organizers and participants of the gathering closed a number of avenues and streets, other transport hubs, blocking access to the buildings of state, local self-governing bodies and private organizations for a period of time and throughout the Republic of Armenia, hindered their regular activities, insulted and threatened illegally the individuals who have not joined the assembly, applied violence against police officers and other individuals. Such behavior that causes hatred and intolerance has led to clashes between citizens, violence, and threatened public security. The organizers of the rally continue to call for paralyzing traffic, which, in Yerevan and other cities, is a mass phenomenon that involves gatherings by transport participants for a long time to block traffic.
According to Article 44 § 5 of the RA Constitution, the right to freedom of assembly may be restricted only by law, for the purpose of state security, preventing crimes, protecting public order, health and morals or protecting the basic rights and freedoms of others.
According to Article 5 § 1 of the RA Law on Freedom of Assembly, 1, The freedom of assembly may be restricted only in case, when in a democratic society the protection of state security or the public order, the prevention of crime, or the protection of public health and morals (hereinafter referred to as public interests) or of the constitutional rights and freedoms of others (hereinafter referred to as constitutional rights of others) are dominant in regard of the freedom of assembly. In the current situation, the constitutional rights and public interests of others have become dominated, in other words, it is otherwise impossible to prevent their disproportionate restrictions because many police alerts, warnings, and legitimate claims have been categorically ignored by the assembly leader and participants. Based on the above-mentioned, the police demand from Nikol Pashinyan and other actual organizers to stop illegal assemblies in all parts of Yerevan and immediately inform the participants of the rallies.
We warn that in case of absence of the head of the assembly or the failure by the leader of the rally to do so on the demand of the police, a reasonable time limit will be provided to stop the gathering. In case of non-termination of the assembly within a reasonable period of time, the police will terminate the rally by applying special means provided by the RA Law on Police.
