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Armenian Soldier Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison for Murder of Fellow Soldier

The Tavush District Court of First Instance today sentenced soldier Davit Khachatryan to 17 years in prison for the murder of fellow soldier Lyuks Stepanyan in a military unit in Noyemberyan last year. Judge Zoya Zakinyan considered proven that it was a premeditated murder, despite defense attorney Yerem Sargsyan's repeated claims that evidence obtained from the beginning stage of the investigation through to the trial prove that what happened was a violation of the rules for handling weapons, which negligently caused human death.

In his final statement, Davit Khachatryan said that fate already punished him, by taking away his friend Lyuks Stepanyan's life. He asked the judge to be guided by the law in issuing the sentence. Stepanyan's relatives in the courtroom continued to call for life imprisonment, whereas the public prosecutor asked for 18 years in prison. 

Yerem Sargsyan, speaking to journalists yesterday, said that the prosecutor's request and the investigation and trial  proceeded in a similar vein, since the case got publicity. 

"This case had wide public resonance from the first day. Lately, we've been hearing a lot of grievances related to the army, with parents claiming that there is an attempt to present several crimes, particularly tied to murder, into suicide or other circumstances. In this case, it turns out that in this very public case law enforcement agencies and state officials are trying to convince the public that we're dealing here not with concealment, but [they say,] see, a completely objective preliminary investigation and trial are being carried out in this case," said the attorney.

After today's court session, Sargsyan told Epress.am that the Ministry of Defense and the General Prosecutor's Office reached a verdict in advance, "and so everything was clear." According to the attorney, after receiving the verdict they will definitely appeal it at the Court of Appeal.

Recall, after Stepanyan's death, his relatives decided to bring the coffin with his body in it to Yerevan. On the Sevan-Yerevan highway they were met with RA Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan, and after lengthy negotiations, he persuaded Lyuks Stepanyan's father, Ishkhan Stepanyan, to return home and bury the body. Ohanyan promised to monitor the criminal case. 

Photo: Lyuks Stepanyan's relatives on the Yerevan-Sevan highway (May 18, 2013).