Killed Lieutenant’s Family Informed About His Death Through Media

The relatives of 24-year old lieutenant Tigran Simonyan who died from a bullet wound in Nagorno-Karabakh's Defense Army on February 10,  were informed of the death from the media. Other details are still unknown to the family, reported the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly Vanadzor office, whose members visited the Simonyan family today.

The relatives explained that Tigran had gone to serve after graduating from the Military Training Institute after Vazgen Sargsyan. He had served for about 2 years at the “Yeghnikner” base in Nagorno-Karabakh and according to the relatives, he served with pleasure. According to his mother, Tigran had taken the incident at the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute too close to his heart, where Haykaz Barseghyan had been killed by fellow soldiers. 

Recall, Tigran Simonyan died from a gunshot from a fellow soldier. The Investigative Committee initiated a criminal case based on article 365 of the RA Criminal Code, “violation of combat duty regulations as a result of negligence or bad faith that caused grave consequences.”

Note, that Ministry of Defense of Azerbaijan has released a statement saying that the Armenian side had conducted a saboteur attempt and that the Azerbaijani Armed Forces defended themselves, causing the Armenian side multiple deaths, including Tigran Simonyan. Armenia’s Ministry of Defense Spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannissyan told Azatutyun Radio that the Azerbaijani ministry's statement was “a ridiculous cheap trick.”