the 50th anniversary of Lenin's death, two dissidents and members of the underground National United Party, and Smbat Avagyan, burned Lenin's large portrait hanging from the arch of the History Museum building in protest of Soviet rule. Zohrabyan was arrested and sentenced to seven years of imprisonment and three years of exile. Avagyan managed to escape, and another dissident, , instead confessed to being Zohrabyan's accomplice to protect Avagyan. Independent Armenia Following the 2008 presidential election president-elect Serzh Sargsyan held a rally of 60,000–70,000 "would-be supporters" who were brought from different parts of Yerevan and Armenia in buses. Many of them headed towards Freedom Square where a competing rally was being held by Levon Ter-Petrosyan. In March, following the violent crackdown of opposition demonstrations, the square was occupied for some time by the Armed Forces of Armenia. On May 4, 2012, at a Republican Party rally and concert at Republic Square during the parliamentary election campaign, dozens of balloons filled with hydrogen exploded, resulting in the injury of at least 144 people. From April 17 to 23, 2018 large demonstrations took place at Republic Square led by Nikol Pashinyan against the rule of Serzh Sargsyan. On April 22, when opposition leader Pashinyan was arrested, police forces were deployed in the square. Dozens of protesters were detained from the square. By the evening, some 115,000 protesters filled the entire square and the nearby streets. The next day, on April 23, after Sargsyan resigned, it became the center of mass celebrations. On April 24, the Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, dozens of protests came together to clean the square and its adjacent street. More rallies took place at the square on May 1 and 8. On May 8, when he was elected prime minister, Pashinyan delivered a speech to his supporters at the square. On August 17, 2018, Pashinyan held a rally to commemorate his first 100 days in office. Up to 150,000 attended the rally. On December 22, 2020, a month after the end of the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, a coalition of more than a dozen opposition parties held a rally at the square calling for Pashinyan's resignation. On March 1, 2021 a few days after calls by the military to resign, Pashinyan held a rally with his 20,000 supporters at the square. In the run up to the June 20, 2021 parliamentary election, both Pashinyan (Civil Contract) and his chief rival