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Armenians in mass rally to mark deadly clashes

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  • Armenians in mass rally to mark deadly clashes

    http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM 5iNvjzvqgQR_kOYTqiDjwdvvpL-ug

    Armenians in mass rally to mark deadly clashes

    March 1, 2009

    YEREVAN (AFP) - Thousands of opposition supporters defied the Armenian
    authorities Sunday to rally on the first anniversary of the country's
    deadliest political clashes since the 1991 break-up of the Soviet
    Union.

    More than 10,000 people gathered for the rally in central Yerevan,
    which the authorities had refused to sanction, carrying placards
    reading "Free Political Prisoners" and "For Early Elections", an AFP
    correspondent reported.

    Opposition leader and former president Levon Ter-Petrosian told the
    crowd he would not give up his fight against President Serzh Sarkisian
    and would use "constitutional means" to force early elections.

    "After a year, despite total pressure from the authorities, the people
    are instead stronger and ready to continue the struggle."

    Ten people, including two police officers, were killed last March 1
    when street battles broke out as police moved to disperse thousands of
    Ter-Petrosian supporters. Dozens more were injured in the clashes,
    many from gunshot wounds.

    Opposition supporters had been rallying for 11 days to denounce
    Sarkisian's win in a February election where Ter-Petrosian finished
    second in the vote.

    Protesters called Sunday for the release of dozens of people jailed
    following the unrest, including a former foreign minister and several
    other senior opposition leaders who are still on trial.

    "I came here today because I want justice," said one of the
    protesters, 57-year-old Siran.

    "I want those responsible for this tragic event and for the deaths of
    these 10 people to be punished. The government refuses to punish them,
    so it should go," she said.

    Protesters later marched through Yerevan to the area near the French
    embassy where the clashes took place, before laying flowers and
    dispersing peacefully.

    Ter-Petrosian said another anti-government rally would be held on May 1.

    Dozens of Armenian police kept a close eye on Sunday's rally but made
    no move to interfere. Police said Friday they would allow the
    protesters to gather peacefully but warned they would react harshly to
    any unrest.

    Sarkisian's press service said in a statement that the president had
    lit a candle in a church Sunday in memory of the victims of the
    clashes.

    New York-based Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused Armenia of
    conducting "politically motivated" trials against the opposition while
    failing to investigate the use "excessive force" by police during the
    clashes.

    Analysts have warned that Armenia remains politically unstable and
    that potential losses of thousands of jobs due to the global economic
    downturn could spark further turmoil.

    A mountainous country of about three million people wedged between
    Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran and Turkey, Armenia has seen repeated
    political violence and post-election protests since gaining
    independence with the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991.

    Armenia's next parliamentary election is due in 2012 and a
    presidential vote in 2013.
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