Military Prosecutor promises revelation
"Disgusted by the stupid laws in the army, your Arayik"-this is how Arayik Avetisyan, who had been shot in the head in one of the military units in Vayk in October 2001, ended his first letter that was sent home from the army.
Ten years have passed, yet the culprits remain unrevealed. Arayik's mother, Anahit Mkrtchyan told "A1+" that the person who killed his son was detachment commander Mher Stepanyan. According to Mrs. Anahit, evidence of that are the testimonies that eyewitness soldier Artyom Khachatryan gave the preliminary inquiry body and the court, as well as the materials that were obtained. Mrs. Anahit says the soldier had seen how the commander killed her son. "The commander made my son kneel, said "it isn't easy to trick an officer" and pulled the trigger."
Anahit Mkrtchyan says her son was killed intentionally just because he had not paid the commander the 100 dollars that he promised to pay before going home for vacation. The commander was simply charged with misuse of official position and for beating soldiers and was sentenced to two years in prison. "I needed him to be sentenced for the case of murder," says Mrs. Anahit.
Her son's case has been investigated and appealed in all court instances nationwide, but there are still no culprits and the case remains unrevealed. On June 17, the court ruled that the only solution was to bring the body out of the tomb, but Anahit was against it. "If they are trying to falsify the expert examinations, this goes to show that they are doing everything possible to conceal the case," says the mother.
To receive clarifications, Mrs. Anahit and the parents of other deceased soldiers went to meet with the chair of the Court of Appeals on June 20. However, they were received by his assistant and were promised that the head of the court would respond.
The parents of the deceased soldiers also meet with RA Military Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan, who has promised to reveal the cases and needs time for that. "I can't reveal a 10-year case overnight. I have to check," this is what the military prosecutor had said during the last meeting, according to Anahit. The latter says she is optimistic and believes that justice will finally be served.
