Armenia: Violence Mars Yerevan City Council Election Campaign

As Yerevan's May 31 City Council election approaches, fears are intensifying about the possibility of clashes between supporters of President Serzh Sargsyan and opposition activists.

On May 11, members of ex-President Levon Ter Petrosian's Armenian National Congress were beaten in Yerevan's Avan district, and taken to the hospital with grave bodily injuries, A1Plus news service reported. The ANC charged that members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia carried out the attack and demanded that the General Prosecutor's Office initiate a criminal investigation. In a May 13 statement, Armenian Ombudsman Armen Arutyunian expressed strong concern that "the identity of the attackers is still not determined, even though the victims of the violence say that they have submitted photos and license plate numbers of the assailants."

A report has also surfaced on the Russian news service Regnum.ru that members of the government coalition party Prosperous Armenia got into a scrap in Yerevan on May 12 with members of the ruling Republican Party. The Regnum report could not be independently confirmed.