On August 19, 2009, scores of demonstrators, concerned about the future of the country, gathered in front of the Criminal Investigation Department (162 Khorenatsi St.) building in Erebuni district to protest the accusations brought against Mariam Sukhudyan, a young activist in the Teghut Defense Group.

Mariam Sukhudyan and a number of other like-minded young people, who worked as volunteers in Nubarashen boarding school No. 11, a school for children with special needs, from April to June 2008 as part of the UN "10 Best Schools" project, brought attention to a number of problems encountered at the school - poor teaching, poor hygienic conditions, disgusting meals, and sexual abuse of pupils--problems to which they felt they could not stay indifferent.

Armenian Public Television covered video fragments on the state of affairs at school, particularly on sexual abuse by the teacher of Armenian Language and Literature. A criminal case was initiated in criminal investigation department of Erebuni district police division in early February 2009 based on video fragment, and Mariam Sukhudyan was first involved as a witness, later as defendant. In the interim, the teacher went on sabbatical, and one of his victims was subjected to pressure to recant, so she withdrew her testimony viewed in the video fragment. Eventually, the young activist received a summons on charges of perjury (Point 3, Paragraph 2, Article 333 of Criminal Code on False crime reporting).

Seeing these charges as an attempt to silence young activists who raised issues of public concern, demonstrators gathered to express their opposition to the charges.

Sona Ayvazyan, Project Director of Transparency International Anti-corruption Center, who took part in the protest action, claimed that the case highlights a broader suppression of dissent by the authorities in Yerevan. "It looks like active citizens are not encouraged in our country," she said. "The authorities seem to be trying to eliminate such citizens one by one. Mariam is simply the latest victim, and we don't know who will be the next."

Mariam was interrogated in the presence of her defense lawyer and spent two and a half hours despite refusing to testify to police investigators.