9,000 Armenians flood Yerevan over steep hike in electricity tariff
Over 9,000 demonstrators have taken to the streets of the Armenian capital Yerevan in protest at a sharp rise in electricity costs and police violence.
The protesters gathered near the presidential palace and vowed to continue demonstrating until Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian's government withdraws a decision to increase electricity tariffs, AFP reported on Wednesday.
"We are the masters of our country," chanted the protesters who were in direct defiance of police calls to abandon the demo.
The protests began on Friday over a move aimed at hiking power prices by over 16 percent as of August 1, and gained momentum on Tuesday as riot police used water cannon to break up the demonstrations.
Activists have called on Armenians to "join the struggle from home" and turn off their lights and electrical devices for an hour each day.
"The government will be forced to satisfy our demands if we show our resolve to continue the protests," said one protester.
“What we demand from the government concerns each family in Armenia," said another protester.
On Tuesday, over 6,000 people gathered near the presidential palace and hundreds of others took part in an overnight sit-in.
The protests turned violent after police attacked reporters and detained 240 of the demonstrators.
Activists have taken to social media networks to bolster their campaign.
"The Armenian government thinks they solved protester problem with water cannon. Wrong. They baptized new generation of activists," a researcher at the London School of Economics, Babken DerGrigorian, posted on twitter.
SRK/AS/MHB
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