Armenia hostage standoff: Police officer shot dead

A police officer has been shot dead by armed men locked in a protracted siege with security forces in the capital of Armenia, Yerevan, hours after authorities issued an ultimatum to resolve a weeks-long hostage drama.

"A sniper opened fire from inside the police station and killed a police officer ... who was sitting in a car parked 350-400 metres (yards) away," police spokesman Ashot Aharonyan wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

The gunmen - supporters of fringe jailed opposition leader Zhirair Sefilyan - stormed the police building on July 17, killing one officer, taking several more hostage and seizing a store of weapons.

OPINION: Armenian hostage standoff and political implications

They have since freed all the police, but on Wednesday seized four medical staff who had entered the compound to treat some of their wounds. Two medics were later released.
Inside Story - Can tension in Armenia be contained?

Earlier on Saturday, Armenia's security services had given the gunmen a deadline to surrender after dozens were hurt and arrested in overnight clashes.

"We are giving members of the armed group until 5pm (13:00 GMT) to lay down their arms and surrender," the Armenian national security services said in a statement.

"Otherwise special forces law enforcement have the right to open fire," it said. "After the events of July 29, any opportunities to resolve the situation with the terrorists peacefully have been exhausted."

At least 26 people were arrested in the early hours of Saturday after authorities broke up a rally near the police station, where the armed pro-opposition group has been holed up.

More than 70 people were taken to various hospitals around the capital to be treated for wounds, including burns and broken limbs.

"Out of 73 injured people, 26 are still in hospital, including six policemen," health ministry spokeswoman Anahit Haytayan wrote on Facebook.

Police used truncheons, stun grenades and smoke bombs to break up the demonstration in support of the gunmen.

Journalists were among those hurt and a house caught on fire in the neighbourhood, a residential area.

Armenia hostage standoff: Clashes erupt in Yerevan

Armenian police told the AFP news agency that 165 people were detained in total during the overnight unrest, of whom 26 were later arrested.
Armenian protesters clash with police in Yerevan



The rest were released.

Earlier on Friday, police had exchanged fire with the gunmen, wounding two of them, who were then taken to hospital under armed guard.

The group has demanded the resignation of President Serzh Sarkisian and Sefilyan's release and protesters have regularly gathered in the neighbourhood, voicing similar calls.

Sefilyan and six of his supporters were arrested in June, accused of preparing to seize government buildings and telecoms facilities.
The hostage crisis and violence has shaken the small landlocked ex-Soviet nation, just months after a surge in conflict with Azerbaijan over separatist ethnic-Armenian region of Nagorny-Karabakh left 110 people dead in April.

The US embassy in Yerevan said in a statement it was "deeply concerned by the shocking images and credible reports of violence and excessive use of force by the police to disperse protestors."

"We urge the Armenian government to take immediate steps to prevent a repeat of last night's actions," the embassy added.


The European Union also called for an end to the stand-off.

"Use of force and violence to achieve political change are not acceptable," an EU spokesman said in a statement.

"Conflicts need to be resolved through political dialogue with a respect for democracy, rule of law and fundamental freedoms."

Source: Agencies

Alton Sterling: Anger swells over killing of black man

Protests have grown in the United States over the killing of Alton Sterling, a black man who was shot dead by white police in Louisiana, as an investigation into his death was announced.
Hundreds gathered in Baton Rouge on Wednesday night, a day after Sterling was wrestled to the ground by two officers and killed outside a shop as he sold CDs - an incident filmed with a mobile phone.
The rallies came as more mobile phone footage alleged to be of the incident emerged, and as the US Justice Department said it would investigate the killing.
Many carried signs to express their anger and demand for justice, blocking streets near the shop where Sterling, a father of five, died.
Demonstrators chanted "black lives matter" and "hands up don't shoot".
Protesters and friends of Sterling had earlier erected a makeshift memorial on the white folding tables and fold-out chair he had used to sell mixtape CDs.

Sandra Augustus, an aunt who helped to raise Sterling after his mother died, spoke to the crowds with a broken voice.
She said a second video that emerged on Wednesday showing the moments before her nephew was shot had left her angry.
She pleaded for protesters and those gathered not to allow the vigil to be marred by violence.
Shortly after speaking, Augustus and another aunt of Sterling's fainted in the heat and commotion. They were carried away by family members.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and the US Justice Department announced on Wednesday afternoon that there would be an investigation by the department's civil rights division.

'Man with a gun'

Baton Rouge police spokesman, L'Jean McKneely, told local media that officers had responded to an anonymous call that said there was a man in the area with a gun.
Louisiana is an "open carry state", meaning that with some exceptions adults can be armed if the gun is visible.
The owner of the shop outside which Sterling worked, Abdul Muflahi, told local TV that the first officer to arrive at the scene had used a stun gun on Sterling and the second officer tackled the man. As Sterling fought to get the officer off him, the first officer shot him "four to six times".
In the footage circulated online five shots can be heard.
The store owner said Sterling did not have a gun in his hand at the time, but he saw officers remove a gun from Sterling's pocket after the shooting.

Baton Rouge Police Chief Carl Dabadie Jr called Sterling's death a "horrible tragedy" and said there were still questions about what happened.
Quinyetta Mcmillon, the mother of Sterling's 15-year-old son, addressed media, saying: "As a mother, I have now been forced to raise a son who is going to remember what happened to his father."
Community leaders said they did not trust the police and demanded answers.
The head of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People in Baton Rouge, Michael McCalahan, called for the police chief to be fired.
"We are going to turn the entire case over to the US Attorney's office and the FBI to conduct the investigation from this point," he said, shortly after the announcement.
"What we're going to do today is root out the 1 percent of bad police officers that go around becoming the judge, the jury and the executioner of innocent people. Period. But more specifically, innocent black lives," McCalahan said.

Mobile phone footage

Footage of the moment Sterling was killed, which cannot be verified by Al Jazeera, contains images some readers may find distressing.
The 48-second video shows two police officers pushing Sterling down to the ground. One officer is seen pressing his head against the ground. There are shouts of "Get on the f*****g ground!" and "If you move, I swear to f*****g God!". Then, at least five shots can be heard.
Seconds after the gunshots end, as blood pours from Sterling's ailing body, an officer can be heard saying "F***!" and, speaking into a radio, "Shots fired! Shots fired!".

Reports said Sterling died minutes later, as paramedics arrived on the scene.
An autopsy showed that Sterling died of multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and back, according to East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner Dr William Clark.
Edwards, the Louisiana governor, announced that the US Justice Department investigation would be carried out by the department's civil rights division. Edwards said the video of Sterling's death is "disturbing, to say the least".
The Justice Department's investigation will look into whether the officers willfully violated Alton Sterling's civil rights through the use of unreasonable or excessive force.