You see class, you just grab here and squeeze...

Unzipped's February 20 posting has this picture which I had not seen from the recent Youth-led opposition rally, where a policeman has his hand around the neck of one of the young protesters. The picture has brought forth some discussion. A1plus has also published the police report of that day's goings-on.

Let's say the comments on Unzipped's post are true, as is the police report, that the youth were inciting and yelling, cursing, disrupting traffic and were gathered illegally. Lets say all of that is true, as it very well may be. That does not, in any way, justify this behavior by the policeman. I am not defending what may have been the behavior of some of the protesters. I am only saying the following: even if that youth in the picture were physically attacking that policeman, or harming someone else, even then there are ways of subduing unarmed protesters without choking them - which to me, at least, seems extremely personal, and violent. That type of grabbing, choking hold is truly more befitting of a gang member, or dirty street fighter, not a policeman - but there's no surprise there.

And that violent behavior, that boundless lawlessness, the right they have given themselves to take away the rights and dignity of the people of Armenia, that self-righteousness of those in power, whether they are police or parliamentarians or those in the executive branch, is exactly why things have reached the point that have, and exactly why there is an opposition protesting in the streets.

[thanks to unzipped for publishing the pic - it is by Setrak Mkrtchyan, PanArmenian Photo, which by the way has more photos from the same occasion here]