Operation Set Up: 36-Year-Old Man Attempts Self-Harm

For over an hour, psychologists from the Ministry of Emergency Situations' rescue service, along with an operational group from the National Crisis Management Center, led by instructor Arthur Veliyan, have been negotiating with 36-year-old Arthur Smbatyan on the Davtashen Bridge in order to prevent him from continuing self-harm.

According to photojournalist Gagik Shamshyan at the scene, neither the rescuers, nor the psychologist, nor the operational group from the Davtashen police department, led by the department head, were able to convince Smbatyan to agree to go to the hospital with the emergency medical team that arrived on site.

He demanded that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Chief of Police Valery Osipyan be informed that the police officer from the Kanaker-Zeytun department had "set him up." In an interview with the photojournalist, Smbatyan stated, "The officer in my case has set up a criminal charge against me, telling me to admit to a nonexistent offense for my own good. Why should I admit to a crime I didn't commit? The officer says, 'You should accept it; the police chief will give me a bonus, and I'll give you half.' This is not how it should be. Previously, they would just say, 'This belongs to you.' Now they grab you, lay you on the asphalt, and say, 'You have to accept it.' This is not how you run a country," he said.