YEREVAN, MAY 23, ARMENPRESS. The court blocking protests were spontaneous, and the police weren’t constrained in their actions, claims Police Chief Colonel Valery Osipyan, referring to the recent demonstrations when citizens had blocked the entries and exits of all courthouses in Armenia after PM Nikol Pashinyan urged them to do so as part of launching reforms in the judiciary.

“I believe it was an impromptu rally, a gathering,” Osipyan said, referring to the law whereby citizens should be authorized to hold rallies, otherwise police are entitled to disperse it, with the exception of the assembly being spontaneous.

A reporter noted that the rally happened at the call of the PM, but Osipyan nevertheless answered that anyhow the rally fits into the freedom of assembly laws.

“I consider it to be a spontaneous, urgent rally. It’s not like the police were simply standing there, there were cases when police officers were urging citizens to open the entrances. In order to avoid brawls and clashes, we chose the kind of strategy to try and fix the situation through guidance at the initial stage,” he said.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan