YEREVAN -- An Armenian opposition municipal legislator was attacked in a brawl that erupted at a city council meeting in the capital, Yerevan, as she attempted to give the mayor a container showing how dirty the water in the capital is.
Marina Khachatrian, a member of the Yerkir Tsirani party, was hit several times by members of the ruling Republican Party of Armenia on February 13 as she tried to give Mayor Taron Margarian a sample of sewage water from the Nubarashen district of the capital.
Police were eventually called in to restore order after several members of the city council scuffled.
In a brief interview with RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, Khachatrian accused the mayor of “using violence against me.”
"This smell will accompany you in all the places wherever you are," Zaruhi Postanjian, head of Yerkir Tsirani, told City Hall in a speech after legislators regrouped following the incident.
“Even your precious perfumes and precious cognacs will not save you," he added, referring to the smell from the sewage water that many city residents complain of.
Members of the mayor’s party said they considered the attempt by Khachatrian to force the sewage water on Margarian an attack, though the mayor said he condemned the usage of force by all council members against one another.
