Armenian Soldier Accused of Humiliating a Deceased Fellow

Charges were brought against Armenian soldier, senior gunner D. Harutyunyan in the criminal case launched in connection with the death of conscript Harutyun Hambaryan that occurred on May 8 at an army base in Nagorno-Karabakh, the Investigative Committee of Armenia reported in a statement on Tuesday, May 26.

Harutyunyan faces charges pursuant to Part 1 of Article 359 of the RA Criminal Code (Breach of relations, prescribed by field manuals, between servicemen not subordinated to each other, expressed in humiliation of the person’s honor and self-esteem, persecution or violence), and Part 1 of Article 360 (Insulting a serviceman, i.e. humiliation of honor or self-esteem concerned with the implementation of one’s service duties, by another serviceman).

The investigators found that Harutyunyan, violating the statuary rules of relations between servicemen, insulted and used violence against Hambaryan, the official statement said. 

According to the Investigative Committee, the investigator's motion for the arrest of the accused was denied by the court; the prosecutor filed an appeal against the judge's decision.

Recall, according to the preliminary version, Hambaryan committed suicide. However, the conscript's family said they did not believe the suicide theory.