YEREVAN • Armenia yesterday detained anti-government protest leader Nikol Pashinyan, just hours after Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan stormed out of talks with him on the 10th day of protests against his rule.
Mr Pashinyan and two other opposition MPs were held as they were committing "socially dangerous acts", the prosecutor-general's office said in a statement.
Armenian police earlier denied a report by another opposition MP saying Pashinyan had been arrested.
Protesters have accused Mr Sargsyan of clinging on to power following his appointment as Premier this month, when he stepped down from the presidency after serving two five-year terms.
Tens of thousands of protesters have marched through the capital Yerevan, blocking streets in the city centre and staging sit-ins.
Earlier in the day, Mr Sargsyan walked out of a televised meeting with Mr Pashinyan minutes after it began, and denounced the opposition's "blackmail".
Speaking to Mr Sargsyan in front of TV cameras, Mr Pashinyan, the leader of the opposition Civil Contract party, said: "I came here to discuss your resignation."
Mr Sargsyan replied: "This is not a dialogue, this is blackmail. I can only advise you to return to a legal framework... Otherwise, you will bear the responsibility."
He added that his opponents "did not learn the lesson of March 1". The date refers to a protest rally after Mr Sargsyan's re-election in 2008, when 10 people were killed in clashes with police.
Mr Pashinyan said: "You don't understand the situation in Armenia. The power is now in people's hands."
Mr Sargsyan, before walking out of the meeting room in Yerevan's Marriott Hotel, said: "A party that scored 8 per cent in parliamentary elections can't speak on behalf of the people."
As an MP, Mr Pashinyan is protected by parliamentary immunity, and cannot be arrested without the approval of lawmakers, in accordance with the Armenian Constitution.
Shortly after Mr Sargsyan, 63, walked out of talks with Mr Pashinyan, riot police with stun grenades clashed with protesters at the march led by Mr Pashinyan, in Yerevan's Erebuni suburb.
Opposition supporters have criticised Mr Sargsyan for problems such as poverty, corruption and the influence of powerful oligarchs.
Mr Pashinyan had earlier announced the "start of a peaceful velvet revolution" in the landlocked South Caucasus nation, which has a population of about 2.9 million people.
He called for a nationwide campaign of "civil disobedience", and urged civil servants "to stop obeying Mr Sargsyan".
Parliament voted last Tuesday to allow Mr Sargsyan to become Prime Minister after his second term as president ended.
Under a revised Constitution - approved in a 2015 referendum - most state powers in the small, former Soviet state have shifted to the prime minister while the presidency has become a largely ceremonial post.
Mr Pashinyan, who has been leading the protests, is demanding that Mr Sargsyan resign as Prime Minister.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS
