Davit Kamalyan, a former military serviceman, a resident of Ijevan, Tavush region, and his parents are offended and indignant at the decision of the RA Investigative Committee that decided to close the criminal case filed for shooting at 19-year-old Davit. He received gunshot wounds from shootings of his fellow serviceman, sergeant Seryozha Nahapetyan.
Last year, on February 20, 2018, Davit Kamalyan, the ex-serviceman of Martuni’s 3 military unit, was shot and received 7 wounds by a fellow soldier Seryozha Nahapetyan, but the case was dropped this January. The Investigative Committee investigators decided to dismiss the case because of the lack of corpus delicti.
“The invidious part is that whatever was written down and announced is not true,” former soldier told Forrights.am. “Becoming disabled and having multiple injuries, I have not filed a complaint, but the sergeant who shot me wrote a testimony against me accusing me for the incident. I have been in coma for four days, when I came out, the doctor approached, saying that this is the boy who was asked the watchword, did not answer, and was shot. But nothing like that happened. This is what pains me.”
A fellow serviceman, a sergeant, who went to the positions first time with Davit, fired at Davit. In late evening, in positions, Davit went to the toilet, and when he returned, the sergeant, frightened, thinking that an enemy might be approaching, shot him. However, he later testified that he had asked the watchword for three consecutive times, Davit didn’t say it, and that’s why he shot.
“But where is the logic here; why should I keep silent knowing that, in that case, he will shoot at me? In reality, immediately as I returned from the bathroom, he started shooting,” told Davit, adding that the sergeant was not trained enough. “I had served for 19 months, had 20 shifts in the positions; he had come [to the army] just 6-7 days ago.”
Sergeant has shot 15 gunshots in the direction of Davit, 9 of which have opened bullet holes on his military jacket, and there are seven gunshot wounds on Davit’s body. “A bullet is still inside my body, next to my backbone: it has punctured one of my lungs, a kidney, and then stopped next to the vertebra,” tells Davit, who is not fully recovered yet.
As a result of the gunshots, Davit’s right kidney, a lung and spleen were removed, and a lung and liver were operated. “At present, I have respiratory problem, my liver has been operated, and the doctor says that there is an open wound like a rose. Five bullets touched my right arm, I wasn’t able to move it, then they treated the nerve. Now I have a cyst on my only kidney,” said the third-degree disabled person, the former soldier.
“I told him to tell the truth, I will not file a complaint, but Seryozha [the sergeant], on the contrary, complained against me telling that I was the only guilty person for the incident,” Davit said.
Four of the soldiers serving at the site that same day, testified that the sergeant asked David for a watchword, and 3 others had claimed he had not. David does not rule out that pressure was exerted on the soldiers.
“Because some of them were about to be discharged, it was easy to put pressure on them: they did not want to get in any trouble. I wouldn’t want him [the sergeant] go to prison, but I wanted the truth to be told, not to blame me for what happened,” Davit said.
A criminal case was initiated under Part 1 of Article 365 of the Criminal Code of Armenia: “Breach of the rules of combat duty or military service … if this act has caused damage, it is punishable by keeping [the person] in the disciplinary battalion for a maximum of 3 years or by restrictions on military service for 1-2 years, or imprisonment for a term of up to 3 years. “
Davit’s father, Seryozha Kamalyan, is convinced that the case that has been examined for about a year has been dropped due to bribe received. “100 %: without money it would not be dropped,” said the soldier’s father to Forights.am. “The family of the shooter came, offered us money, I refused to take, they said if I refuse to take it they will give it to the investigator.”
The investigator Gahramanyan refused to respond the soldier’s father’s corruption accusation, urging to apply to the Investigative Committee.
In response to our inquiry from the RA Investigative Committee, they reported that the criminal case was discontinued, the parties were informed about it and they were explained the proper manner of appeal procedure.
“The investigator was guided by the law during the investigation of the criminal case, and the statement made by the soldier’s parents is far from the reality,” this was the response of the Investigative Committee to Davit’s father’s assertion.
David’s father demands to reopen the case. “This case should be examined properly. There is such a negligence over there! They tell me to be happy because my son is alive, but who is responsible for the incident, why should such a thing ever happen? I gave them a healthy boy, let them treat him. We’ve written three letters to the Minister of Defense, no answer came, nothing,” said the grieving father.
“Davit was a patient in a hospital of Stepanakert for about 2 months; during these two months four boys from that [military] unit became disabled, and nobody was held accountable for that. The commander Karen Grigoryan was busy with pig breeding. “
Davit’s father also said that during the April war, he personally saw what the situation of the troops was in the positions of the Artsakh army.
“I went to Hadrut positions, then, after that, having seen the boys’ situation, I’ve cried two whole days: they were in dirty clothes, had nothing to eat. The whole world was sending assistance, nothing reached them; just a box of candy with jam, a box of biscuits, nothing else. The boys were throwing Ministry of Defense’s food because it was no edible. The commanders breed pigs at the expense of the soldiers, they even cook the wheat insufficiently so that the soldiers don’t eat it and it can be given to their pigs,” said the father: “The soldiers were forced to ask money from home to buy some food and eat.”
Marine Kharatyan