Mother of Deceased Soldier Taken to Hospital from Place of Protest

During a regular protest outside the Armenian government building, Nana Muradyan, mother of deceased soldier Valeriy Muradyan, fell ill and was taken to Armenia Republican Medical Center in an ambulance. 

Prior to falling ill, Muradyan told the Epress.am correspondent on the scene that she was approached by a woman who introduced herself as Ano of the Armenian National Army who told her that on the day of her son Valeriy Muradyan's funeral, Chair of Zinvor Association of NGOs, mother of a deceased soldier Margarita Khachatryan (known by the nickname "Maroz") asked the Ministry of Defense to transfer money to the Muradyan family not only to cover funeral expenses, but also to purchase an apartment, to which the family, according to Ano, agreed. 

Nana Muradyan believes this was said to discredit her, as she claims she didn't receive an apartment. According to her, the problem began on June 21, when on the day of deceased soldier Grisha Khachatryan's autopsy, she urged Khachatryan's family not to believe the defense ministry's theories and not to bury their son until a criminal case under murder charges is launched. 

"The expert came out and said it was murder, and I said, when they brought the body of my only son, there was no one to give me advice on how to act. I also said that Maroz will come, put her hand on your child's head, as she did with my child, and will swear in her black [mourning] clothes, on her child’s grave, that the guilty will be punished, that this will be the last victim. I said [it] because Maroz Margo is the defense minister’s Pampers [diapers]. And the following day, Maroz sent a man to our house, to go, tell Nana that I asked the police chief to give her money for burying her son. And today, the Armenian National Army’s Ano, under Margo’s command, comes and tells me in the square that [Minister of Defense] Seyran Ohanyan gave you money to hire a lawyer and did so upon Margo's request," said Muradyan. 

On the matter of an attorney, Muradyan said she personally spoke with Seyran Ohanyan, who said the woman definitely needs a lawyer to work on her son's case and expressed willingness to pay for it, which he did, and Margarita Khachatryan, said Muradyan, had nothing to do with it. Muradyan claims that talk about an apartment are completely untrue. 

Angered by what happened, the mothers of soldiers who died in non-combat conditions contacted Minister of Defense spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan and asked to meet with the minister. 

Later, Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan  (pictured above, right) met the mothers outside the government building's rear entrance and promised to see them inside. 

After the minister left, Nana Muradyan's condition drastically deteriorated, and police officers had to call an ambulance. 

Note, a group of parents for years have been protesting outside the Armenian government building and president's office, demanding to identify and punish those responsible for the deaths of their sons, all of whom were killed while serving in the army in non-combat conditions.