Wednesday, November 15 2017 12:35

ArmInfo.Students who protest against the cancellation of the deferment from compulsory military service continue picketing in front of the building of the National  Assembly of Armenia.

Students say that the adoption of the bill on the abolition of  postponement of military service by the parliament means ignoring  their position. As a sign of protest, the students blocked the  traffic along Demirchyan Street, not letting the people's cars enter  and leave the National Assembly.

It should be noted that the hunger strike of five participants  continues, four of which, by the way, have already served in the  army. The state of health of one of the hunger strikers deteriorated  the evening before, however, the students intend to continue it,  despite the calls of the rector of the Yerevan State University Aram  Simonyan to stop demonstrative protest actions.

It is noteworthy that in recent days various versions of the true  motives for holding a protest rally have been discussed in the media  and political circles of the country. On the eve of the same day, the  deputy from the ruling Republican Party Hayk Babukhanyan assured that  the protest actions were initiated and financially supported by the  Soros Foundation, which allocated $ 20,000 for this purpose.

The answer of the students did not take long. One of the initiators  of the protest actions, Vahan Kostanyan, wrote on his Facebook page,  in particular: "Our initiative group did not receive any financial  assistance from the party." 45 thousand drams were collected by our  friends - 39,000 of which went to purchase stickers, and 6 thousand  on the banner.Yes, as a "donation," we were treated to 4 pizzas, and  the administration of one of the cafe gave us 3 thousand drams. Yes,  I almost forgot, the saleswoman of the neighboring store did not take  money for the purchased David initiative groups ) Two rolls and  juice. In this light, I advise Ike Babukhanian seek witches among  women with bangs of his faction. And he immediately finds among them  those who receive money from foreign funds. "

In turn, the head of the initiative group David Petrosyan, who  declared a hunger strike in protest, added:  "Add to this another 6  bottles of water and 4 packs of cigarettes, which our colleagues  today delivered to us."

The National Assembly already in the third and final reading passed a  bill on "Military service and the status of a serviceman", which  implies the complete abolition of the deferment of compulsory  military service for all young people who have reached the age of 18,  except for those who have health problems incompatible with service  in army. The heads of the defense and educational departments of  Armenia, as well as representatives of the establishment believe that  the document will not affect the system and the quality of education  in the country and will even contribute to establishing justice and  reducing corruption risks during the draft.