‘He Should Serve 10 Years in Prison’: Parents of Soldier Who Lost his Eye Indignant at Charges

The court on Monday chose a two-month detention as a precautionary measure for junior officer Armen Tovmasyan, who was recently arrested in connection with an incident that occurred on Dec. 14 in the mess hall of the “Yeghnikner” military unit in Nagorno Karabakh. He was charged to abuse of authority and abuse of power, reports RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

Though the Investigative Service of the RA Ministry of Defense from the beginning had confirmed that Tovmasyan had slapped and hit rank-and-file soldier Narek Avetisyan’s face with a metal chain, breaking his right eyeball, but in the article with which Tovmasyan was charged on Monday there was no mention of causing bodily injury.

Article 375 Section 1 of Armenia’s Criminal Code reads: “Abuse of power, transgression of authority or administrative dereliction, if these acts were committed for mercenary or group-interest motives, by a commander or official, and if these inflicted essential damage, is punished with imprisonment for 2-5 years.”

Narek Avetisyan’s parents, who at the Ophthalmological Center named after S. Malayan are caring for their 18-year-old son who lost his right eye, are extremely indignant at the charges.

“I protest, this is not what he did,” Narek’s mother told RFE/RL’s Armenian service.

“It’s very little — as if he killed a chicken, this is punishment for someone who killed a chicken,” added Narek’s father, Andranik Avetisyan.

“There was no corrupt reason; he is just a man who behaves arrogantly. It’s a form of punishment, to keep a chain in his pocket, to hit, to deprive people of their vision. He should sit [in prison] for at least 10 years, so others see, become afraid, not do it again. Today, they knock out an eye; tomorrow, they’ll break a neck,” said the boy’s father.

Recall, the incident occurred after Narek, after 14 days of duty in the field, was assigned to duty in the mess hall. Head of the dining room Armen Tovmasyan gave him an assignment, but the soldier refused to do it, after which, according to preliminary data, the junior officer struck Narek with a chain and the boy’s eye spilled out on the spot. He initially was taken to the hospital in Stepanakert, then moved to Yerevan.

Georgy Grigoryan, head of the Vascular Disease Department at the Ophthalmological Center named after S. Malayan, speaking to Epress.am earlier, said it was impossible to save the young boy’s eye because “there was no longer an eye,” the blow was that strong. Doctors removed Avetisyan’s right eye, placing a temporary prosthetic instead so that in future, he might try to undergo plastic surgery and have a permanent prosthetic in place. It will move, but of course, the young man will never be able to see from that eye.

The Investigative Service of the RA Ministry of Defense informed RFE/RL’s Armenian service that after obtaining the results of the forensic examination, the charges against Armen Tovmasyan might change.