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COVER-UP ALLEGED IN PROBE OF ARMY DEATH
Irina Hovannisian
RFE/RL
25.11.2010
Armenia - Soldiers and tanks lined up for a military exercise, undated.
Military authorities in Armenia faced allegations of cover-up
on Thursday after it emerged that two army soldiers arrested in
connection with last week's fatal shooting of a fellow conscript have
been charged with negligence, rather than murder.
Junior Sergeant Robert Avetisian was found riddled with bullets early
November 18 at his military base in northeastern Armenia in still
unclear circumstances.
Military investigators promptly opened a criminal case on the
non-combat death under a under an article of the Criminal Code dealing
with premeditated murder. The two other soldiers were detained in
the following days.
The Defense Ministry's Investigative Department holding the probe
announced on Thursday that they have been formally charged with
negligent conduct that violated the Armenian military's rules
governing sentry duty. An official at the department told RFE/RL's
Armenian service that they both were on such duty on the night of
Avetisian's death.
The official would not be drawn on why the investigators think they
shot the 23-year-old university graduate. The accusation leveled
against the arrested soldiers carries up to four years in prison.
Speaking to RFE/RL, Avetisian's relatives dismissed the official
theory. "I absolutely do not agree with that theory because my boy
was deliberately murdered," said his father, Gurgen Avetisian.
Both Gurgen Avetisian and his brother stressed that according to
military officials, Robert was gunned down shortly after walking out
of his unit's infirmary, where he spent the last days of his life
recovering from an illness.
"A mature person who has graduated from a university and already
served in the army for more than a year would not have left the
medical room at 1 o'clock in the morning without a serious reason,"
argued Robert's uncle. "There must have been a serious reason. Let
them investigate that."
Artur Sakunts, a human rights campaigner monitoring army crime,
echoed their arguments and suggested that the military authorities
are not intent on solving the murder. He noted that none of the
unit's commanders is facing prosecution. "This seems to be a form of
cover-up," Sakunts told RFE/RL.
From: A. Papazian
Irina Hovannisian
RFE/RL
25.11.2010
Armenia - Soldiers and tanks lined up for a military exercise, undated.
Military authorities in Armenia faced allegations of cover-up
on Thursday after it emerged that two army soldiers arrested in
connection with last week's fatal shooting of a fellow conscript have
been charged with negligence, rather than murder.
Junior Sergeant Robert Avetisian was found riddled with bullets early
November 18 at his military base in northeastern Armenia in still
unclear circumstances.
Military investigators promptly opened a criminal case on the
non-combat death under a under an article of the Criminal Code dealing
with premeditated murder. The two other soldiers were detained in
the following days.
The Defense Ministry's Investigative Department holding the probe
announced on Thursday that they have been formally charged with
negligent conduct that violated the Armenian military's rules
governing sentry duty. An official at the department told RFE/RL's
Armenian service that they both were on such duty on the night of
Avetisian's death.
The official would not be drawn on why the investigators think they
shot the 23-year-old university graduate. The accusation leveled
against the arrested soldiers carries up to four years in prison.
Speaking to RFE/RL, Avetisian's relatives dismissed the official
theory. "I absolutely do not agree with that theory because my boy
was deliberately murdered," said his father, Gurgen Avetisian.
Both Gurgen Avetisian and his brother stressed that according to
military officials, Robert was gunned down shortly after walking out
of his unit's infirmary, where he spent the last days of his life
recovering from an illness.
"A mature person who has graduated from a university and already
served in the army for more than a year would not have left the
medical room at 1 o'clock in the morning without a serious reason,"
argued Robert's uncle. "There must have been a serious reason. Let
them investigate that."
Artur Sakunts, a human rights campaigner monitoring army crime,
echoed their arguments and suggested that the military authorities
are not intent on solving the murder. He noted that none of the
unit's commanders is facing prosecution. "This seems to be a form of
cover-up," Sakunts told RFE/RL.
From: A. Papazian