Epress.am News from Armenia
The parents of soldiers who have died in the army during peacetime are looking forward to the annual report of the RA Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan, which has been approved for the agenda of the forthcoming session of the National Assembly. The parents, who held a protest action in front of the building of the National Assembly on Thursday, April 9, stated that they were keen to find out how the Prosecutor was going to justify the failure to disclose their sons' killings, and whether the MPs will bring up the issue of crimes taking place in the military at the Parliament.
Ruling Republic Party MPs Samvel Aleksanyan and Tachat Vardapetyan passed by the parents in front of the NA building, without paying attention or saying anything to them. Meanwhile, Aleksanyan gave 10,000 drams (around $21) to a beggar nearby; the latter bowed and crossed himself in gratitude to the MP.
In front of the gates of the Parliament building the parents also encountered Republican MP Samvel Farmanyan, who, unlike his colleagues, stopped to listen to the protesters. Farmanyan said that no words could console the grief of a parent who has lost a son. According to the MP, he knows the pain, his cousin died in the army, too.
“I can only promise to raise the issue on your behalf when the Prosecutor General presents his report to the National Assembly,” Farmanyan said.
He also asked the parents not to generalize the incidents and not to compare the deaths on the border with breaches of military discipline, so as not to “grist to the mill of our common enemy.”
Video in Armenian only.
