Secretary of the Strong Armenia parliamentary faction Tigran Abrahamyan stated that the incident in the National Assembly was a premeditated provocation.
“What happened in the National Assembly was a deliberate, planned provocation. We know who planned it, who carried it out, and probably where the text message came from,” he said, according to Panorama.am.
He stressed that a member of the parliamentary leadership should not throw chairs, referring to National Assembly Deputy Speaker Vahagn Aleksanyan, who had picked up a chair and thrown it toward lawmakers during the tense confrontation in the chamber.
Meanwhile, Vova Hakobyan, a member of the ruling Civil Contract faction, claimed that the confrontation in the National Assembly had been caused by the actions of opposition lawmakers rather than by Taron Chakhoyan, Aysor.am reports.
“No offensive remarks were made. They attacked the person speaking at the podium and struck him. When they hit us, they get beaten,” the Civil Contract representative told journalists.
Reporters also asked whether it was acceptable for the National Assembly’s deputy speaker, representing Civil Contract, to throw a chair toward opposition lawmakers.
In response, Hakobyan declared: “They hit us. If they hit us again, they will get beaten again. They were trying to beat us with a stick. They will get beaten with chairs and bottles too.”
Following the physical altercation in the National Assembly, journalists observed and documented the arrival of an ambulance in the parliament courtyard.
Harutyun Harutyunyan, acting director of the Emergency Medical Assistance company, said the ambulance crew had not provided medical assistance to any citizen or injured person, according to Panorama.am.
“A call was registered today at 10:51 a.m. It was immediately forwarded to the ambulance crew, which departed without delay. While on the way, the crew received a call saying that the ambulance request was being canceled. In other words, the crew did not provide medical assistance to any citizen or injured person. We have no information about whether anyone was injured. It is assumed that there were no injuries,” he said.
Published videos show lawmakers whose faces appear reddened from blows. The footage also shows blood flowing from the nose of Strong Armenia lawmaker Andranik Gevorgyan. The videos capture National Assembly Deputy Speaker Vahagn Aleksanyan throwing a chair toward opposition lawmakers.
