Authorities in Yerevan have banned a key anti-government rally which former
President Levon Ter-Petrosian and his opposition alliance plan to hold on August
1, an opposition representative said on Wednesday.

Ter-Petrosian’s Popular Movement informed the municipal authorities last week
that they it like to rally supporters in the city’s Liberty Square or outside
the Matenadaran museum of ancient manuscripts, the two traditional venues for
public gatherings in central Yerevan. According to Levon Zurabian, a senior
member of the movement, the municipality refused to sanction the demonstration
in either location citing police claims that it would degenerate into “mass
disturbances.”

The municipality banned the last two rallies held by Ter-Petrosian outside the
Matenadaran on June 20 and July 4 on the same grounds. The rallies went ahead
and were not marred by violence, with police making no attempts to disperse
thousands of protesters.

The bans came despite an easing of severe restrictions on freedom of assembly
imposed by the Armenian government following the March 1 suppression of
Ter-Petrosian’s post-election demonstrations in Yerevan. The government came
under strong pressure from Western governments and human rights bodies to scrap
those restrictions.

Zurabian claimed that an aide to Mayor Yervand Zakharian told an opposition
representative that the authorities can allow opposition supporters to gather
outside the Matenadaran if organizers promise that they will not march through
the city center. He said the opposition rejected the “illegal deal.”

“The municipality thereby accepted that there will be nothing wrong if the rally
takes place at the Matenadaran,” Zurabian told reporters. “The authorities’ main
headache is the march because they realize what a powerful effect it can have on
citizens.”

During his last rally Ter-Petrosian announced a renewed campaign of daily
anti-government protests and the start of a “maximum mobilization of the public”
in support of the opposition demands addressed to President Serzh Sarkisian.
Dozens of his supporters have since been taking part in a non-stop sit-in on a
street leading to Liberty Square.

The most important of the opposition demands is the immediate release of more
than 70 opposition activists and supporters arrested in the wake of Armenia’s
disputed presidential election. The opposition also wants the authorities to
sack and prosecute senior officials responsible for the use of lethal force
against opposition supporters who barricaded themselves outside the Yerevan
mayor’s office on March 1.

Sarkisian indicated on Monday the authorities are in no rush to release
individuals considered political prisoners by the opposition. He also
effectively rule out the possibility of engaging in dialogue with Ter-Petrosian.

In Zurabian’s words, Sarkisian’s remarks leave the Ter-Petrosian-led opposition
with no choice but to demand his resignation at the upcoming rally. Zurabian and
other opposition speakers said on July 4 that it will be “decisive” for the
success of their fresh bid for regime change.

Zurabian on Wednesday again refused to fully disclose the opposition tactic,
saying only that the August 1 rally will be followed by an opposition march.