By Naira Bulghadarian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Armenian law-enforcement authorities have refused to specify the type of powerful stun grenades that injured dozens of anti-government protesters and journalists in Yerevan last month.
Security forces fired an unprecedented number of such explosive devices on June 12 as they clashed outside the Armenian parliament with protesters demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s resignation. The use of force was strongly condemned by not only the Armenian opposition but also civil society groups.
Research conducted by one of those Western-funded groups, the Union of Informed Citizens (UIC), backed opposition claims that the police used Russian-made Zarya-3 grenades that were not authorized by the Armenian Health Ministry at that point. Health Minister Anahit Avanesyan formally added Zarya-3 to the ministry’s list of crowd control equipment only on June 26, two weeks after the crackdown.
In written answers to relevant questions sent by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service one month ago, the Interior Ministry declined late on Monday to clarify whether the riot police fired Zarya-3 or other, less powerful grenades used against protesters in the past. It referred all inquiries to another law-enforcement agency which claims to be investigating the legality of the police actions on June 12.
The agency, the Investigative Committee, said, for its part, on Tuesday that it cannot provide such information because the probe is still not over. It confirmed that no police officers have been indicted so far.
