Man Attempts Self-Immolation During Yerevan Protest (Updated)

As of 1:10 am, July 31, the demonstrators had retreated to the Freedom Square and traffic on Baghramyan Avenue had been restored.

11:20 pm Moments ago, a middle-aged man set himself on fire during the rally on Baghramyan Avenue. Other protesters called an ambulance and tried to put out the fire using their clothes and what little water they had on them before it would arrive. The man’s exact motives for attempting self-immolation are unknown. 

10:30 pm Following yesterday's violent crackdown on demonstrators sympathizing with an armed group occupying a police station in Yerevan’s Erebuni district, thousands of people again took to the streets of the city Saturday evening in support of the gunmen and to protest against police’s use of excessive force against peaceful protesters. After a rally at the Freedom Square, the demonstrators decided to march towards the presidential residence on Yerevan’s central Baghramyan Avenue but were prevented from doing so by a wall of riot police and a barbed wire fence installed by law enforcement authorities on the entrance to the avenue. 

Unable to move forward, the protesters sat on the ground in front of the barbed wire. Meanwhile, buses are transferring police officers from the cordoned off street leading to the seized police station to Baghramyan avenue.