The World - News from May 29, 1988

Thousands rallied in Yerevan, capital of the Soviet Armenian republic, demanding freedom for a jailed nationalist leader and calling for a holiday marking formation of the republic, a Soviet dissident said. Alexander Ogorodnikov said police did not interfere with the crowd, which he estimated at 50,000. He said the demonstrators carried pictures of Armenian national heroes, including Paruyr Ayrikyan, a nationalist arrested in March and still under confinement. Ayrikyan emerged as a spokesman for activists shortly after Armenians began demonstrating Feb. 13 for annexation of an Armenian district from neighboring Azerbaijan, another Soviet republic.