Video: © 2013, PD, We are Conscious
22.02.2013. Today in Vanadzor’s Hayq Square a group of young activists initiated a public action entitled “We Are Conscious.” The participants called for justice, carrying drums and posters stating, “We don’t recognize the results of this election,” “Why did you falsify the ballots?,” “An end to indifference,” “Where is my vote?,” “I am a citizen,” “We are conscious,” and so on. The action was aimed at presenting society’s position on the results of the recent presidential elections, reported frauds, and further developments to the local municipality (the municipality of Vanadzor and the administration of Lori region are both located in Hayq Square).
Approximately 60 participants added their own perceptions to the spontaneous action. A group of people expressed their support to those Armenian citizens who, despite many frauds, pressures, and the atmosphere of fear, found power in themselves to vote for their preferred candidates. In their opinion, the action was not a political but a civic one and no matter how the political powers resolve the issue in the end, they intended to support the common citizen.
In another group, there were people who participated in and monitored the elections (observers, journalists, proxies). These were citizens who witnessed and recorded the frauds and illegalities and announced that they did not recognize the results of the elections.
The third group of citizens expressed their complaint about Samvel Darbinian’s expression during a media interview. The mayor of Vanadzor called those who did not vote for Serzh Sargsyan “unconscious.”
During the action Edgar Khachatryan, the director of Peace Dialogue NGO, announced that he had written an open letter to the mayor of Vanadzor that morning appealing to him to apologize from Vanadzor for the expression and added that, if he fails to do so, a group of citizens will appeal to the court.
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