Epress.am News from Armenia
Tigran Abgaryan was injured on Mar. 1, 2008, in Yerevan, Armenia, after which he fell into a coma and died 40 days later on Apr. 10, 2008. His mother, Ruzan Harutyunyan, told Epress.am a little about her son’s life.
“My son too was a soldier, he served [in the army], who killed my son, who fired the shot? They’re trying to convince me that it was an accidental shot, I don’t understand these 3-cm accidents, there was 3 cm between the [bulletproof] vest and his hat, how did it happen that the random bullet came in that 3 cm and entered my son’s neck.
“My son was born in 1989, he was serving in the domestic troops, he was a student at the Yerevan [now Armenian] State Pedagogical [University]. After his second year, he went to the army, it would’ve been better if he didn’t go, he served for 7 months. They killed him on Leo street, I had a child like a light, he was just 18 years old, our lives have come to a stop, and we can’t leave the country, we can’t leave our child’s grave; with clipped wings we’re sitting with husbands who are ill and looking at each other, who needs us? Apart from [the] Heritage [Party], no one inquires about us; also HAK [the Armenian National Congress] calls, says condolences. We don’t believe in anything anymore, this is our life. And life, my light, my hope and the future was my Tigran. It’s been 3 years since I’ve lost my light; I don’t know if I’m living or not.”
Today is the third anniversary of Mar. 1, 2008, when mass protests against alleged electoral fraud, organized by supporters of unsuccessful presidential candidate, first president of the Republic of Armenia Levon Ter-Petrossian, followed the presidential election of Feb. 19, 2008, in Armenia. On Mar. 1, 2008, national police and military forces, called in to disperse the crowds, used “excessive force and violence” which left 10 people dead and many more wounded.
Updated at 3:41 pm on Mar. 1, 2010: “Tigran Abgaryan died on Mar. 1, 2008” corrected to “Tigran Abgaryan was injured on Mar. 1, 2008, in Yerevan, Armenia, after which he fell into a coma and died 40 days later on Apr. 2, 2008.”