YEREVAN, Armenia (AP)  Armenia's president imposed a state of emergency late Saturday following a day of violence between police and protesters. The announcement from the office of President Robert Kocharian came shortly after police fired in the air and let off tear gas to break up a gathering of about 15,000 people who were protesting alleged fraud in last month's presidential elections. Earlier Saturday, police forcibly broke up a protesters' tent camp housing hundreds of people. Witnesses told the Associated Press they had seen people injured in the nighttime police action, but there was no immediate official information on casualties. The health ministry said at least 31 people — including six police officers — had sought treatment after the morning troubles. Kocharian's office said the state of emergency would remain in effect for 20 days. It was not immediately clear what restrictions would accompany the measure. Thousands, sometimes tens of thousands, of protesters have rallied daily since the Feb. 19 election, in which Prime Minister Serge Sarkisian was declared the winner. Sarkisian is a close colleague of Kocharian, who is stepping down because the constitution does not permit him to seek a third term. Opponents allege the government manipulated the vote count. They also allege the election was fundamentally unfair, saying the government exerted pressure on people to vote for Sarkisian and pressured news media into skewing coverage to favor him. Sustained unrest in Armenia could undermine stability in the volatile Caucasus region. Armenia borders Turkey, Iran, Georgia and Azerbaijan — countries that are important for oil and gas or as transit countries for hydrocarbons being shipped to Western customers. "At this important stage in Armenia's development, everything should be done to avoid any escalation of tension," said Finnish foreign minister Ilkka Kanerva, the chairman-in-office of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The general prosecutor's office on Saturday announced it was opening a criminal investigation against the demonstrators connected with the tent camp on suspicion of holding illegal arms. The protesters back former Armenian President Levon Ter-Petrosian, who finished a distant second to Sarkisian in the official election results. He appealed to the Constitutional Court on Friday to overturn the results. Ter-Petrosian's legal status was uncertain Saturday. Security police were preventing him from leaving his residence, but he told reporters that no formal house-arrest had been announced against him. "If he is accused of committing a crime, he should be properly charged and prosecuted in a court of law like anyone else. In a democracy you cannot arbitrarily detain political opponents," said Terry Davis, secretary-general of the Council of Europe, the continent's main human rights body. Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Conversation guidelines: USA TODAY welcomes your thoughts, stories and information related to this article. Please stay on topic and be respectful of others. Keep the conversation appropriate for interested readers across the map.
Archivo:Robert Kocharyan.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Robert Kocharián en 2001
El presidente armenio Robert Kocharián declaró un estado de emergencia en Armenia el sábado, después de que uniformados de la policía usaran gases lacrimógenos y armas de fuego para dispersar las protestas contra fraude electoral en las elecciones presidenciales que tuvieron lugar el pasado mes de febrero, dejando como saldo 8 personas muertas en los disturbios entre la policía y la oposición.

El anuncio vino desde la oficina del presidente Kocharián poco después de que la policía suprimió la marcha de más de 15,000 manifestantes. Más temprano, las manifestaciones en tiendas cercanas a la alcaldía de la ciudad de Ereván fueron evacuadas en forma violenta usando bastones de mando.

"Ellos atacarón un demostración pacifica en Ereván," dijo el representante de la oposión :Alexander Arzumanian. "Pero la gente esta muy decidida y lucharan por sus derechos ... Hay mucha gente herida".

Los testigos describieron a Associated Press como la gente era atacada en la acción policial durante la noche, aunque no hay informes oficiales sobre muertes ocurridas en este hecho. El ministerio de salud dijo que por lo menos 30 personas, incluyendo 6 oficiales de policía, han entrado en tratamiento.

La oficina de Kocharián dice que el estado de emergencia permanecerá durante 20 días. La medida impone una censura a todas las manifestaciones y ordena que los informes de noticias de Armenia emitan solo información oficial.

Armenia, oficialmente Republica de Armenia, es un país montañoso, multi-partidista, y democrático. Permanece técnicamente en una guerra con su país vecino Azerbaiyán sobre la independencia ''de facto'' de la república de Nagorno-Karabakh.