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BILL TAKES UP UNSOLVED CASE OF U.S. TEACHER KILLED IN ARMENIA
AP Worldstream
May 18, 2006
On the Net:
Joshua Haglund Memorial Peace Scholarship Fund:
http://www.joshuahaglund.com
A bill introduced in the U.S. House Wednesday is aimed at finding
answers about the unsolved death of an American teacher two years
ago in Armenia.
Joshua Haglund, 33, of Minnesota, was killed less than a year after he
began teaching English at Armenia's state-run Linguistics University
through an exchange program overseen by the United States.
The bill introduced by Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum
seeks answers in the death and authorizes $250,000 (A194,069) for
a scholarship fund in Haglund's name at the University of Minnesota
for study abroad and diversity training programs.
Haglund was found fatally beaten on May 17, 2003, on the street
outside his apartment in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.
Before moving to Armenia, Haglund taught in inner-city schools in
the United States as well as in Japan, India and Puerto Rico.
Haglund's family went to Armenia five months after he died, hired an
Armenian lawyer and has been in frequent contact with the U.S.
Embassy in Yerevan. The family also asked for help from McCollum and
Minnesota's two U.S. senators.
"Somebody knows who did it," said Haglund's mother, Maxine
Haglund-Blommer.
"I don't know if I'll see it (resolved) in my lifetime, but maybe
my kids will," she said. "Maybe someday as those people get older,
their conscience will bother them."
Haglund's family thinks he may have been the victim of a hate crime
because he was gay. Armenia has a strong stigma against homosexuality.
"The Haglund family deserves justice, and the Armenian and American
governments need to continue working together to resolve the
investigation into Joshua's death," McCollum said.
"The bill is also an opportunity to honor Joshua's life. He selflessly
dedicated his life to peace and cross-cultural understanding,
becoming an educator who invested his energy in students around the
world. Encouraging others to reach out with a helping hand is a truly
fitting legacy for Joshua," she said.
Haglund's family has established the Joshua Haglund Memorial Peace
Scholarship Fund at the University of Minnesota, to "continue his
vision, through love and education, to make the world a better place,
one person at a time."
AP Worldstream
May 18, 2006
On the Net:
Joshua Haglund Memorial Peace Scholarship Fund:
http://www.joshuahaglund.com
A bill introduced in the U.S. House Wednesday is aimed at finding
answers about the unsolved death of an American teacher two years
ago in Armenia.
Joshua Haglund, 33, of Minnesota, was killed less than a year after he
began teaching English at Armenia's state-run Linguistics University
through an exchange program overseen by the United States.
The bill introduced by Minnesota Congresswoman Betty McCollum
seeks answers in the death and authorizes $250,000 (A194,069) for
a scholarship fund in Haglund's name at the University of Minnesota
for study abroad and diversity training programs.
Haglund was found fatally beaten on May 17, 2003, on the street
outside his apartment in Yerevan, the Armenian capital.
Before moving to Armenia, Haglund taught in inner-city schools in
the United States as well as in Japan, India and Puerto Rico.
Haglund's family went to Armenia five months after he died, hired an
Armenian lawyer and has been in frequent contact with the U.S.
Embassy in Yerevan. The family also asked for help from McCollum and
Minnesota's two U.S. senators.
"Somebody knows who did it," said Haglund's mother, Maxine
Haglund-Blommer.
"I don't know if I'll see it (resolved) in my lifetime, but maybe
my kids will," she said. "Maybe someday as those people get older,
their conscience will bother them."
Haglund's family thinks he may have been the victim of a hate crime
because he was gay. Armenia has a strong stigma against homosexuality.
"The Haglund family deserves justice, and the Armenian and American
governments need to continue working together to resolve the
investigation into Joshua's death," McCollum said.
"The bill is also an opportunity to honor Joshua's life. He selflessly
dedicated his life to peace and cross-cultural understanding,
becoming an educator who invested his energy in students around the
world. Encouraging others to reach out with a helping hand is a truly
fitting legacy for Joshua," she said.
Haglund's family has established the Joshua Haglund Memorial Peace
Scholarship Fund at the University of Minnesota, to "continue his
vision, through love and education, to make the world a better place,
one person at a time."