Presidential Chief of Staff Speaks to Protesting Parents who Lost Sons in the Army

Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan’s most trusted guy is military prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan; that is, he continues to suppress and fabricate the cases of murdered children very well, publicly said Nana Muradyan, mother of Valeriy Muradyan, killed on Mar. 15, 2010, while serving in the Armenian army, who was protesting with other parents outside the Government of Armenia building today.

“He’s the one who orders the killing of our children. And in all the cases of murders in the army, the judges fulfill the commands of the [general] prosecutor,” said one distraught mother.

Hasmik Hovhannisyan, mother of Artak Nazaryan, who died suddenly on Jul. 27, 2010, also while serving in the army, said she agrees with Muradyan.

“If he didn’t order [the murders] let him today punish those criminal military officers; if they’re not punishing the officers, then let them punish those investigators, those prosecutors, who are unable to properly suppress the case. They present our children’s cases to the president as suicides,” said Hovhannisyan.

Gohar Sargsyan, mother of Tigran Ohanjanyan, who died on Aug. 30, 2007, while serving in the army, said the justice-legal system is rotten to the core and has to be burned, destroyed.

While the mothers were speaking to journalists outside, the presidential chief of staff Vigen Sargsyan left the government building. Protestors immediately surrounded him and began asking questions.

Speaking on behalf of the other parents, Robert Mirzoyan, father of Gegham Mirzoyan who died in the army in 2007, suggested Vigen Sargsyan act as mediator and organize a meeting with Gevorg Kostanyan, Serzh Sargsyan and their attorneys, at which time they’ll say what they need to say and the prosecutor will respond to them.

The president’s chief of staff informed protestors that military prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan regularly speaks with Serzh Sargsyan and says what he’s done regarding these cases.

The parents pointed out that Kostanyan met with them a year ago, listened to them, but has not yet solved a single issue.

“What I’m saying is that our pain won’t be alleviated in any way, if a thousand other cases are uncovered and solved. The best place, the most specialized, to uncover these crimes is the military prosecutor’s office,” Vigen Sargsyan said.

The protesting parents, nevertheless, continued to argue with the presidential employee. Artak Nazaryan’s mother, in particular, said not to send them to the military prosecutor since “he suppresses cases.”

“Well then where should I send [the cases]? Suppressing any case by a military prosecutor, first and foremost, is a crime. Also on a personal level, Gevorg Kostanyan is the most qualified expert in this field today. The country’s president knows the issue very well and under his direct instructions, the body that is supposed to be dealing with this is dealing with it. But if you want me to relay the issue again to the president, I will,” Vigen Sargsyan said.