No need to dispatch additional riot police to Gyumri- spokesman
19.01.2015,
19:34
A spokesman for Armenian police has denied media allegations claiming that additional riot police squads were dispatched to Gyumri because of fears that the death of the six-month boy, who was the only survivor from an Armenian family of six who were shot and killed by an AWOL Russian soldier Valery Permyakov on January 12, would trigger fresh tension in the city.
YEREVAN, JANUARY 19. / ARKA /. A spokesman for Armenian police has denied media allegations claiming that additional riot police squads were dispatched to Gyumri because of fears that the death of the six-month boy, who was the only survivor from an Armenian family of six who were shot and killed by an AWOL Russian soldier Valery Permyakov on January 12, would trigger fresh tension in the city.
"We are only replacing police officers who were taken there earlier. There is enough of police force in the city to maintain law and order, and there is no need for dispatching additional units," said Ashot Aharonyan.
The angry residents of Gyumri gathered outside the Russian consulate in Armenia’s second largest city last Thursday demanding that the Russian soldier be handed over to Armenian law-enforcement bodies for trial.
Clashes broke out with police who used truncheons and shields to protect themselves form stones hurled at them by the crowd. Some 15 people, including several riot police officers, were injured. Protesters also picketed the Russian embassy in Yerevan last week with the same demand. -0-
