Ayl@ntrank meeting takes place in Liberty Square.

Some of you may know that Ayl@ntrank had requested a permission to hold their March 23 meeting at the Liberty Square. The Yerevan Municipality had refused it in a manner not consistent with the law, and Ayl@ntrank has taken them to court. To top this off, The municipality has organized a 'Spring 2007' music festival when they bring kids to Liberty Square and have them perform. A festival in itself is not a bad thing but it's obvious why it has been organized now. The two-bit officials are trying to prevent any other activities from taking place in the square. They do not even hide that fact as the 'Spring 2007' festival ends on May 12 which is the election day.



Well, Ayl@ntrank has held its meeting in Liberty Square (Aramazd has promised to post some pictures of the event). I don't know of the degree of its gutsiness, given the history of the Armenian authorities' brutality against protesters as evidenced by the attack on them on Baghramian Street a few years ago after the presidential elections. But it is a welcome move that there is a push-back against the 'no one else has balls but us' attitude of the authorities (they like to call themselves 'the only men in the country'). The key to defeating any superior force is to refuse to play by their rules. So far the authorities force everyone to play by the law but they themselves break the law at any opportunity they get even though they are the ones who have written these same laws.



Ayl@ntrank is thinking to hold their next meeting at Matenadaran. I do not thin that they should do it. They need to reclaim Liberty Square as the location where dissenting views are displayed. The Soviets could not silence Liberty Square, and the current authorities should not be allowed to do it either.