Man Accused of Killing His Comrade Refuses to Remove Stitches From His Mouth

Accused of killing rank-and-file soldier Lyuks Stepanyan (in the photo) at a Noyemberyan military unit on May 15, 2013, Davit Khachatryan, who began a hunger strike and sewed his mouth shut after the last court session, is demanding assurance of a fair trial. This news was conveyed to Epress.am on Wednesday by Khachatryan's attorney, Yerem Sargsyan. 

"He's not saying don't judge me; he's simply saying, [judge] me for my actions. That which is revealed, appears, and is confirmed through the case — accept them as grounds, and not conduct a [mere] formality of an investigation and with violations, sentence him for murder. The incident is not considered murder, [but] a violation of the rules for [handling] weapons, which carelessly led to death. Davit did not want to kill Lyuks," he said. 

According to the attorney, no one has yet been able to persuade Khachatryan to end his hunger strike and remove the stitches on his mouth. "I too have to visit [him] and try to get him to refrain from that step," he said. 

Speaking to Epress.am was also attorney Armen Sargsyan, who is defending the interests of Lyuks Stepanyan's legal successor, who said that as an attorney, he understands and accepts Khachatryan's complaint, but as representative of the injured party, he considers giving comments wrong and not appropriate.

"With regard to the judicial process itself, I have no complaints: nearly all the motions put forth by the defenders were sustained. We are at the stage of debate; the prosecution [and] we — the injured party — said our [closing] speeches. The defense' speech remains and the trial will come to an end. To say anything about the content of the charges would be misunderstood — there is a court and let the court give the final verdict based on assessment of the evidence examined under the system of adversarial litigation. Unless there are obstacles, the last court session will be held on May 30," said Sargsyan.  

Lyuks Stepanyan's father, Ishkhan Stepanyan, in conversation with the Epress.am correspondent, said he is not interested whatsoever in Khachatryan's demands; his only desire is to conduct a fair trial. 

"He sewed [his mouth shut] — what can I do? Tomorrow is the one-year anniversary of my son’s death. We are at a loss: my wife is on a drip, bedridden, in very serious condition. I’m a man, I go to the village, talk to people. She shuts herself at home, [Lyuks’] photo in front of her, hugging [his] clothes, grieving," he said.