Hostage standoff: Last captives released in Yerevan

PanARMENIAN.Net - The armed group that stormed a police department in Yerevan and took everyone inside hostage released the last two captives on Saturday, July 23, PastInfo reports.

Armenia's deputy police chief General Major Vardan Eghiazaryan and Yerevan deputy police chief Colonel Valeri Osipyan were the last to be set free.

Members of the group agreed earlier to release the captives on the condition that a news bureau be established.

One of the members said later that after reconsidering the issue in the evening, they decided to release the two young police officers as a goodwill gesture before the opening of the media center.

The armed group are members of the Sasna Tsrer movement. One police officer was killed, and several more were wounded in a shootout that broke as the members of the group hit the gates of the police department with a Ural track. Several captives have been set free so far. Armenia's deputy police chief General Major Vardan Eghiazaryan and Yerevan deputy police chief Colonel Valeri Osipyan are still kept hostage. The group demand the release of Jirair Sefilian, the founder of the Founding Parliament who was arrested on June 20, as he and a group of people had allegedly planned to seize premises and communication facilities, including the Yerevan TV tower.