Ani Yeghikyan, who participated in the electricity rate hike protest yesterday in Yerevan, has told Hetq that she was followed home by a man in plainclothes and that she recognized her pursuer.

“I was 10:30 pm. I was going to change my clothes, eat something, and return to the protest,” recounts Ms. Yeghikyan, adding that when she was exiting the Barekamutyun Metro station she sensed that someone was following her, matching her step by step.

“I figured it was nothing because it was a subway stoop full of people. But just before reaching my destination I turned around and saw that the same man was right beside me. I recognized him,” Ms. Yeghikyan says.

She says she had met the man on the eve of June 22 on Baghramyan Avenue, the site of the ongoing protest. Ms. Yeghikyan says the man was trying to convince protestors that their actions were futile and that nothing would change as a result.

“I had a brief argument with the man near the Constitutional Court. I asked him who had sent him and told him to leave since the protestors were riled up anyway and that there was no sense to irritate them further,” Ms. Yeghikyan says.

The young woman was then detained by the police, like scores of others.

Recognizing her pursuer, the young woman stopped and so did the man, looking back occasionally.

Ms. Yeghikyan says she then entered the yard of some adjacent buildings where she waited for ten minutes. When she came out the man had disappeared.

She believes that law enforcement is keeping an eye on the scores of protestors detained that first night at Baghramyan Avenue, just to see what they might be up to.

Ms. Yeghikyan believes her pursuer is either a member of law enforcement or working for the police.

On June 23, while in detention, the police seized the young woman’s camera. She hopes to get it back this Monday.