“Corruption is the reason for murders in army”
"If the army is truly open and transparent, then Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan must fulfill our request," members of the "Army in Reality" initiative say.
Group member Tsovinar Nazaryan believes the information that she is requesting from Seyran Ohanyan is not a state secret. "It is a state secret that the condemned culprit is still an officer in the army."
The group asks Ohanyan to submit the list of people who have died, are missing and have been subject to assaults in the RA Armed Forces in the period between 12 May 1994 and 30 September 2011, the reasons behind the deaths and who has been punished for those crimes. "That information can be useful for an expert analysis and for a diagnosis of what is wrong with the army and how the issues can be solved," Tsovinar Nazaryan told "A1+".
Tsovinar Nazaryan said the group had recently organized a discussion with Ministry of Defense representatives and said all participants claimed that there was a lack of information.
Lawyer Artur Sakunts tried to receive the group's information through the court, but he was denied. "We have no guarantee that the Ministry of Defense will not reject us, but that doesn't mean that we should stop demanding. There is a law "On Freedom of Information" and all citizens of Armenia should abide by that law," says member of the group.
Tsovinar Nazaryan's brother died in the army last year, but Nazaryan preferred to speak of other murdered soldiers.
"Theologist Arayik Avetisyan was murdered in the army 10 years ago with the only TT gun at the military unit that the commander kept with him. That commander is still serving and for some reason, nobody has been able to find out who committed the crime in the room. He was later sentenced for another crime, but is still serving."
Tsovinar Nazaryan is certain that corruption is the main reason for the murders taking place in the army.
