Father of Non-Combat Soldier Who Died While Serving in Armenian Army to Appeal to European Court (VIDEO)

The death of Tigran Ohanjanyan, who died while serving in the army during a period of non combat in 2007, has remained unsolved because the country’s president doesn’t want it to be solved, while the military prosecution, headed by military prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan, travelling to military units and meeting parents of deceased soldiers is simply putting on a theatrical performance.

This was told to Epress.am by Suren Ohanjanyan, father of Tigran Ohanjanyan, who died in Vardenis military unit on Aug. 30, 2007. According to the official version of events, Tigran touched a rope that was hanging from an antenna mast and died from the electric shock. According to Tigran’s parents, however, senior officers are responsible for their son’s death.

Suren Ohanjyan shared certain details from the investigation.

He placed much importance on the fact that though till today the investigation has been unable to determine for certain the place of the soldier’s death, none of the prosecutors on the case want to examine those who were in the guards’ room about 5 meters away from the alleged place of the incident — these were Deputy Chief of General Staff of Armenia’s Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Haykaz Baghmanyan’s bodyguards.

“I have never engaged in political affairs, but now I’m forced to — I’m thinking that they’re not punishing those bodyguards, those criminals, so that they carry out the next Mar. 1,” opined the soldier’s father, referring to the fateful day in 2008 when national police and military forces were called in to disperse crowds protesting the results of the presidential election and used “excessive force and violence” which left 10 people dead.

Ohanjanyan has now taken the case to the RA Court of Cassation since the RA Court of Appeals on Sept. 8 overruled their lawsuit, deeming that there is a lack of corpus delicti in  Ohanjanyan’s lawsuit against former senior prosecutor of the Sevan garrison military prosecution Gnel Manukyan. The parents of the deceased soldier were asking that the prosecutor be reprimanded for committing legal violations during the investigation into their son’s case.

“We don’t know what else to do — after the ruling of this Cassation Court we’re going to appeal to the European Court,” they said.

The video of Suren Ohanjanyan describing the trial can be viewed here (in Armenian only).