Night meeting in Yerevan dispersed, scores injured, journalists beaten by police

A peaceful meeting of opposition groups in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, was forcefully dispersed early Tuesday morning by police and security forces, according to a Rosbalt correspondent at the scene.

In addition, journalists covering the sit-down strike on Bagramian Prospekt were beaten. A cameraman for the television station ORT, Levon Grigorian, and two journalists for the opposition newspaper Aikakan Zhamaniak, Aik Gevorian and Avetis Babadzhanian, suffered injuries and had their cameras smashed. Gevorian, who was previously beaten April 5 by unknown assailants, was hospitalized.

According to reports, the protestors found themselves trapped between the parliament building and the US Embassy, and were attacked without provocation by police wielding rubber truncheons, water hoses and concussion grenades.

Numerous strikers were injured, although the actual number could not immediately be determined. The streets have since been cleared, leaving no trace of the night's events.