page_title: Nikol Pashinyan
section_title: Protests and civil disobedience
hierarchical_section_title: Nikol Pashinyan / 2018 Revolution / Protests and civil disobedience
caption_attribution_description: English: Nikol Pashinyan
context_page_description: Nikol Pashinyan is an Armenian politician serving as Prime Minister of Armenia since 8 May 2018. He is a former journalist and editor.
  A prominent journalist, Pashinyan first founded his own newspaper in 1998 which was shut down a year later. He was sentenced for one year for defamation against then Minister of National Security Serzh Sargsyan. He edited Haykakan Zhamanak from 1999 to 2012. Sympathetic to Armenia's first president Levon Ter-Petrosyan, he was highly critical of second president Robert Kocharyan, Defense Minister Serzh Sargsyan, and their allied oligarchs. Pashinyan led a minor opposition party in the 2007 parliamentary election, garnering 1.3% of the vote.
  He was an outspoken supporter of Ter-Petrosyan, when the latter made a political comeback prior to the 2008 presidential election. Ter-Petrosyan was defeated by Serzh Sargsyan in an election marred with widespread vote fraud and violence. Noted for his fiery speeches, Pashinyan had a significant role in the post-election protests which were violently put down by government forces on 1 March 2008 resulting in the deaths of 10 people.
context_section_description: Pashinyan reached Yerevan on April 13 after a 200 km (120 mi) long walk. He called on people to gather at Freedom Square. After a rally, Pashinyan led his supporters to France Square, a major junction in central Yerevan where Mashtots Avenue, Baghramyan Avenue, and Sayat-Nova Avenue intersect. He declared it a "campaign against hopelessness and for dignity." He urged his supporters to stay there overnight and refrain from any kind of violence. He stated that Sargsyan should "feel besieged in Yerevan." Around 200 people stayed overnight in tents or on public benches pulled from nearby sidewalks. Pashinyan called for more acts of civil disobedience, which would paralyze traffic in Yerevan. On April 16 Pashinyan led thousands of his supporters to the parliament building on Baghramyan Avenue. Their march was stopped by police forces who used barbed wire and stun grenades. Pashinyan, among dozens of others, was injured. He attempted to cross the barbed wire line in an effort to break through lines of police armed with batons and shields. Pashinyan called for disruption of the parliamentary session which was to elect Sargsyan as prime minister by blocking the streets leading to the parliament building. On April 17 Pashinyan declared that there is a "revolutionary situation" in Armenia. He called for paralyzation of the entire state system. Sargsyan was elected prime minister with 76 votes in favor and 17 against. He dismissed the protests led by Pashinyan as too small to be consequential.
  After Sargsyan was elected prime minister, Pashinyan moved the main protest site to Yerevan's Republic Square where he declared the beginning of a "non-violent, velvet, popular revolution" in Armenia. He continued with calls of "total blockade" of streets and government buildings in and outside Yerevan. He called parliament to elect the "candidate of the people" as an interim prime minister to organize snap parliamentary elections. On April 22 Sargsyan and Pashinyan met at the Armenia Marriott Hotel in Republic Square. Their meeting, broadcast live, lasted only three minutes and was described as "very tense." Addressing Sargsyan, Pashinyan insisted on discussing the "terms of your resignation and peaceful transfer of power." Sargsyan responded: "You have not learned lessons from March 1." Pashinyan considered it a threat of violence against the popular movement. About an hour later, Pashinyan was detained by masked police officers in Yerevan's Erebuni District, where he was marching with his supporters. Two other MPs from Civil Contract were also detained. Armenian police claimed they were "forcibly removed from the site of the gathering" due to an "illegal" demonstration. Unprecedented decentralized protests broke out in different parts of Yerevan despite more than 190 arrests by police. By late evening, more than 100,000 people gathered in and around Republic Square; a far larger crowd than in preceding days. Pashinyan was released on April 23, following a meeting with Karen Karapetyan, the first deputy prime minister. Sargsyan resigned that day. In his statement, Sargsyan said, "The movement in the streets is against my tenure. I am fulfilling your demand. I wish our country peace, harmony and common sense." His resignation prompted massive celebrations in Yerevan involving hundreds of thousands of people.
caption: Pashinyan surrounded by journalists in Yerevan.
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