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Demonstrators in Kiev burned tires to show their anger, while almost 2,000 kilometers (1,240 miles) to the southeast in Azerbaijan people have been setting fire to themselves. The first known case of self-immolation occurred two months ago and already at least eight more have followed, news agency Bloomberg writes.

“This is a new and non-traditional way of protesting against government corruption in Azerbaijan. An increasing number of people are burning themselves in front of government buildings,” said Elxan Shahinoglu, head of Atlas, a non-government policy research group in Baku,

According to the news agency self-immolation is becoming a new challenge for the ruling regime of the oil-rich country.
“Nizami Karimov, 44 and partially paralyzed, is one of those to set himself alight. Unable to feed his family of five on the $60 a month he gets in disability payments, Karimov said he applied for the extra 100 manat ($128) he’s entitled to and was told he’d have to pay a bribe,” the article reads.

According to the agency he refused to pay a bribe triggering four months of bureaucratic wrangling as a result of which, frustrated and desperate, he poured gasoline over his head and set himself on fire in front of the welfare office in his hometown.

“I can’t live on 50 manat a month,” Karimov said through the bandages covering his face in a hospital in Baku, five days after trying to kill himself. “I have a disability.”

Bloomberg notes that the self-immolation among Azerbaijanis is more about desperation than orchestrated protest or revolution like in other countries.

Zaur Hasanov, a disabled veteran of Karabakh war, set himself afire in central Baku on Dec. 25 to protest the demolition of his cafe by the state-controlled Association of Trade Unions. A video of the act, committed in front of the union’s headquarters, went viral on social networks including Facebook Inc., prompting thousands of users to post comments critical of the government.
Anna Walker, head of analysis for Europe and the former Soviet Union at Control Risks, a London-based advisory group it was an effort to tackle corruption. ““There seems to be little political will to address the problem in a more concerted manner.”

According to the article Maarif Valiyev, another veteran of the country’s war with Armenia, set himself on fire outside his local governor’s office on Jan. 27, after appeals to the government for housing and employment failed. “It was the only way out,” Valiyev said in an interview with the Azerbaijani Service of Radio Free Europe from his hospital room. “I couldn’t get what I’m entitled to.”

Huseyn Mammadov, a 41-year-old taxi driver in the Nakhijevan region, set himself alight outside the local Interior Ministry headquarters on Feb. 11 after losing his job. Regional leader Vasif Talibov, declared that only cars made by the local automaker can be used as taxis. Last week, a homeless veteran who was denied government housing tried to set himself on fire outside the mayor’s office of Sumqayit, Bloomberg writes.

The agency also notes that a 24-year-old woman burned herself to death allegedly because of the “rejection by a lover.” The woman’s mother said her daughter was raped by a serviceman who avoided criminal charges by agreeing to marry her. When he recanted, she became despondent, and committed suicide.

Bloomberg notes that Azerbaijan is ranked among the world’s most corrupt and repressive by Human Rights Watch and Transparency International.