While investigating the official versions of soldiers’ death cases, one might think that they have a special group of scriptwriters in the Military Prosecutor’s Office. Bright imagination and minimum legal knowledge are needed for them. The group is developing hypothesis on various criminal cases for investigators who do not have intention to uncover the cases, the circumstances or the acting persons of the murders in the military in the peaceful conditions, and for dismissal of the command from any responsibilities.
It is noteworthy that the Military Prosecutor’s Office also develops special schemes for putting the most incredible versions into circulation, spreading them in form of news so that the parents of the deceased soldiers can hear them. In the role of “suspects” are often ordinary soldiers, who, as a rule, had no intention of killing, they have done it accidentally. They typically write confessions and often are not detained.
On the night of May 4, 2018, 20-years-old soldier Arthur Gasparyan’s body was found at the military base with two shots in his mouth. The preliminary investigative body has put forward a version that the boy was induced to commit suicide. It turns out that Arthur shot in his mouth once, but did not die, decided to shoot again.
Twenty-one days after the incident, the Investigative Committee made a statement that charges have been made against a senior contracting sergeant. The sergeant was not arrested.
On January 27 Hovsep Grigoryan, 20, was shot dead with wounds on his forehead in Artsakh’s Yeghnikner military unit. According to the official version, the rules for handling weapons were violated. The “naive” shooter is Chakhalyan, a soldier with one and a half years of experience. As a result of our investigation, we found out that the victim had tense relations with the commander.
The soldier’s mother had doubts that Chakhalyan was the only one to blame for the death of her son. After the death of her son, she was informed that the commander was transferred to another military unit. However, Forrights.am found out from its own sources that no one was dismissed from the Yeghnikner military unit.
On October 20, 2017, military serviceman Aram Khachatryan was killed in Martakert while doing land works. The cause of the death was gunshot wounds, which, according to the Investigative Committee’s report, were shot by Khachatryan’s co-serviceman, junior sergeant David Harutyunyan. Investigators have suggested the version of the “fight for cigarettes”.
The boy’s mother does not believe in this fairy tale as Aram has been well-off and has never taken a cigarette from anyone; on the contrary, he rendered cigarettes to everyone. Avet Karapetyan, a lawyer representing Davit Harutyunyan’s interests, refused to say what has been the cause of the murder, telling Forrights.am only that “he had no reason to deprive the victim of his life.”
On May 26, at noon, captain Hmayak Hakobyan was found with firearm wound on his chest in the N military unit. Immediately rumors were spread that the captain had committed suicide by firing on his heart because he had owed large debt. Our source informed us that the debts did not exceed 1 million drams [about $2,000], which was confirmed by the deceased’s relatives. It was absurd to assume that the officer, who receives about 300,000 drams compensation a month, is not from a needy family, commits suicide for 1 million drams.
The Spouse’s mother, Manya Sargsyan, told Forrights.am that her son had some plans on the day before her death: he was scheduling meetings, had bought a new military uniform a day before and had taken it to a tailor for alteration. On the day of his “suicide”, the captain was waiting for his neighbor, whom he had promised to find a job. The latter had to come to the military unit at 12 noon, and the body of the captain was found at 1 pm. All these actions prove that the captain did not intend to die.
One of the incredible stories is the one with the resident of Yerevan, K., who is accused of libel. He spent only 20 days in one of Martakert’s military units. The young man’s mother revealed from conversation with him that one of the officers had raped him. “He wrapped my son in a blanket, beat him, and, after four-five days, raped him. First, he has beaten and then raped him.” The officer categorically refuted the fact of rape.
The serviceman was kept in the military police for a long time and was forced to write that he had lied, and now he is being prosecuted for libel against the officer.
On July 24, 2018, the resident of the Goykaran village Zorik Petrosyan was killed in one of the positions of Vayk. Zorik died of facial injuries. The ambulance car was sent to Sisian. The soldier was not provided with an ambulance. The bullet shot by a fellow soldier hit Petrosyan’s face and came out from his back leaving two holes.
The brother of the deceased soldier, Samvel Petrosyan told us a story from the military unit folklore on how he was presented the details of his brother’s death:
“The officers who brought him told us that he and several others were sitting in the shift room having coffee. One of the boys, Armen Adamyan, took the weapon and directed it towards the enemy. My brother and a soldier from Artashat told him not to direct the weapon towards them. While moving the weapon, the trigger was squeezed accidentally. The bullet entered my brother’s cheek and came out from his back. But this is just a fairy tale: no such thing could have happened,” Samvel Petrosyan told us.
On the evening of September 2, the body of soldier Vanik Gevorgyan was found inside the semi-destroyed building of Artsakh’s “Ara Ler” military unit. There was a rope wrapped around his neck. Typical strangulation injuries have been observed on the neck.
The preliminary investigation body has proposed an initial version of suicide. However, Vanik’s body was in an unnatural, strange position, with his feet on the ground. “As the commanding officer said, the boy’s abdomen was just 15-20 cm above the ground, his legs were fallen to the ground, and the body was in sitting position. How could he hung himself?” says Vanik’s father, Arthur Gevorgyan.
The imagination of the third garrison investigators is unsurpassable. In the murder case of Narek Adibekyan, who was killed in December 2017, they tried to hide the bullet shells found at the scene, probably with an intension to conceal some people’s presence at the scene. And, when the advocates of the victim discovered the fraud, they wrote that yes, somebody else has shot at the same scene a day before killing a dog.
All the investigations of above-mentioned cases have started or have been continued in new times [after the revolution]. But the handwriting and the style of the military prosecution have not changed after the revolution.
Syuzan Simonyan