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3 TEENS, GRANDMOTHER SET THEMSELVES ON FIRE IN ARMENIA TO PROTEST INACTION ON DEATH PROBE
The Associated Press
December 8, 2006 Friday 3:49 AM GMT
Three teenagers and their grandmother set themselves on fire in the
Armenian capital Thursday to protest what they said was authorities'
inaction on investigating a relative's death, a family member said.
Two of them were injured.
The protesters poured gasoline on themselves and set themselves on
fire in front of the president's office in Yerevan, the teenagers'
great uncle Surian Avdalian told The Associated Press. The grandmother
and her 14-year-old grandson were injured and hospitalized with burns,
Avdalian said. The other two teens were unharmed.
The four were members of the small Yazidi community who were protesting
what they called official inaction in last month's beating death of
the children's father, Avdalian said. They argued that the case was
not being investigated because of discrimination against the Yazidi,
a Kurdish ethnic group. About 50,000 Yazidi live in Armenia.
Prosecutor General Agvan Grigorian later met with relatives of the
family and told them a man had been arrested the day after the father's
death, according to spokeswoman Sonna Truzian.
She also said a criminal investigation had been opened into the
grandmother's involvement in the protest, saying she herself allegedly
poured flammable liquids on her grandchildren.
The Associated Press
December 8, 2006 Friday 3:49 AM GMT
Three teenagers and their grandmother set themselves on fire in the
Armenian capital Thursday to protest what they said was authorities'
inaction on investigating a relative's death, a family member said.
Two of them were injured.
The protesters poured gasoline on themselves and set themselves on
fire in front of the president's office in Yerevan, the teenagers'
great uncle Surian Avdalian told The Associated Press. The grandmother
and her 14-year-old grandson were injured and hospitalized with burns,
Avdalian said. The other two teens were unharmed.
The four were members of the small Yazidi community who were protesting
what they called official inaction in last month's beating death of
the children's father, Avdalian said. They argued that the case was
not being investigated because of discrimination against the Yazidi,
a Kurdish ethnic group. About 50,000 Yazidi live in Armenia.
Prosecutor General Agvan Grigorian later met with relatives of the
family and told them a man had been arrested the day after the father's
death, according to spokeswoman Sonna Truzian.
She also said a criminal investigation had been opened into the
grandmother's involvement in the protest, saying she herself allegedly
poured flammable liquids on her grandchildren.