Armenian Foreign Ministry fell into a blockade

Participants of the resistance movement, initiated by the parliamentary opposition of Armenia seeking the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan since the end of April, came to the building of the Armenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the morning of May 24.

One of the leaders of the movement, Ishkhan Saghatelyan, vice-speaker of parliament from the opposition Armenia faction, called on the demonstrators to block the country's foreign affairs agency. “The Minister of Foreign Affairs no longer serves the interests of Armenia, all entrances and exits must be blocked,” he told the audience. According to him, any agreement between Nikol Pashinyan and Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev is "invalid," and the opposition will not allow the interests of Armenia and separatist Nagorno-Karabakh to be surrendered.

Young activists of Armenian opposition opposed Pashinyan

Young participants of the resistance movement held protests in the Yerevan metro. Representatives of the student movement "Voice of Youth" held the protest at metro station "Yeritasardakan" ("Molodyozhnaya").

They sat between the doors of the cars and the train could not move. The action lasted only a few minutes, after which the young people attached the flag of the unrecognised Nagorno-Karabakh Republic to the carriage.

The picketers then decided to pass one station and chanted “Nikol is a traitor” in the car all the way.

Armenian opposition lawmakers barred from entering democracy forum hall

Several Armenian opposition MPs invaded the Armenia Marriott Hotel in central Yerevan, which was holding the Armenian Democracy Forum organised by the U.S.-based watchdog Freedom House. Armenian PM Pashinyan, U.S. Ambassador to Armenia Lynne Tracy, and members of many human rights groups were in attendance.

The opposition deputies attempted to enter the conference hall, but Hovhannisyan, the head of the State Guard Service, denied them, claiming they were not on the guest list. As a consequence, the security guards and MPs got into a fight.

"We want to go in and inform the international community about what is happening in Armenia. I want to talk about my political prisoner friend who has fought in Artsakh," said Tadevos Avetisyan, an MP from the Hayastan alliance.

"In fact, let's record that Nikol Pashinyan will remain behind closed doors and police cordons. He cannot move freely in Armenia," another Hayastan faction MP Anna Grigoryan added. 

The MPs who entered the hotel started chanting "Shame!" "Armenia without Nikol!" and "Struggle!"

Artur Vanetsyan's aide arrested and questioned

After storming his residence earlier on Saturday, law enforcement agents detained Aram Grigoryan, an adviser to opposition Homeland Party leader Artur Vanetsyan, for interrogation, according to the party's spokesperson, Sos Hakobyan.

Grigoryan's lawyer, Yervand Varosyan, claimed he is accused of financing individuals to take part in ongoing anti-government rallies in Yerevan. During the investigation of his home, however, police found no proof. According to the lawyer, the criminal case was most likely started because of a video in which Grigoryan is seen offering money to the homeless, from the past winter.

"Nothing criminal has been discovered," Hakobyan posted on Facebook, "but Aram Grigoryan has been transported to the Yerevan Investigation Department for interrogation."

The opposition marched on presidential house

Members of the opposition resistance movement started their campaign by blocking a section of Baghramyan Boulevard and marching to the presidential mansion. A large police force is stationed in the area as protestors marched and yelled slogans while carrying banners that said "RIP democracy," and "silence is a crime."

Before the march began, Gegham Manukyan, a politician from the Hayastan faction, told the crowd that Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda would be in charge.

"We will convey our political and civic stances there, as well as all the lies perpetrated by this regime, with which they fool the entire globe," Manukyan added.