Epress.am News from Armenia
8.5 years have passed since the death of soldier Tigran Ohanjanyan serving in the military unit of Karchaghbyur in Armenia's Gegharkunik province. Ohanjanyan's parents, however, claim that authorities have failed to discover the actual circumstances surrounding the death that occurred on August 30, 2007. Gohar Sargsyan and Suren Ohanjanyan lodged an appeal on January 25, 2016 with the Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun district court against prosecutor's and investigator's decision on dismissing the case.
Official version and investigation
According to the Armenian Defense Ministry's official version, Tigran Ohanjanyan, who was stationed by the unit’s mobile communication center, was electrocuted and died on the spot after touching the wire that supplied electricity to the radio relay station of the unit. Two servicemen, junior sergeant Karen Tovmasyan and captain Rustam Asatryan, were arrested and charged within the criminal case with “negligent conduct and breach of combat rules that caused grave consequences.” The soldiers, however, were subsequently acquitted to due lack of evidence. In 2010, the court found credible the version of Ohanjanyan's electrocution and closed the criminal case.
The soldier's parents appealed against the version, and the newly resumed preliminary investigation decided to conduct a follow-up electrical engineering examination. In 2011, the case was sent back to the Military Prosecutor’s office to identify and initiate proceedings against a new suspect. Four years later, on December 7, 2015, Armenia's Investigative Committee decided to terminate the proceedings, stating that “preliminary investigation has conducted all possible investigative actions, however, it was unable to locate the radio relay station that operated at the unit on the day of the death. It was also unable to determine how and by whose fault the wires had come under such tension, in what circumstances Ohanjanyan had touched the electric wire: i.e., investigation has not identified a liable person(s) subject to indictment.”
The parents disagree
“How could have the relay station gotten lost?” This is one of the many questions the parents of the dead soldier have raised with all responsible law enforcement authorities, as well as during the protest actions they've held over the years. They have, however, received no clear answer.
The case, as the parents told Epress.am, contains numerous inaccuracies and inconsistencies, while the investigation was conducted with violations of the law. Suren Ohanjanyan, in particular, alleged that his son had died two hours before the time suggested by the preliminary body. In the investigator's records, he said, the time of death had been crossed over and rewritten several times.
The soldier also had physical injuries which were overlooked by forensic examiner Vigen Adamyan. Pre-autopsy photographs of Ohanjanyan's body show injuries to the soldier's face and head, as well bruises on his palms.
Investigation also failed to locate Ohanjanyan's real military uniform, the parents claim. According to their appeal, it was initially stated in case materials that officers had found the soldier's torn shirt. Two months following the incident, however, investigators sent a brand new uniform for examination, claiming it had belonged to the dead soldier.
The case also mentions that Ohanjanyan died after touching a high-tension wire. In a conversation with the soldier's father, however, the investigator allegedly confessed that the wire which was sent for examination had not been recovered from the death scene. The investigator, allegedly, had found a similar wire in the stock.
Who the parents suspect
Suren Ohanjanyan alleged that his son was murdered by the bodyguards of lieutenant-general Haykaz Baghmanyan, the then commander of the 2nd Army Corps and current deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces. His son's body, Ohanjanyan claimed, was actually discovered 5 meters away from the room of Baghmanyan's bodyguards, who, however, were never called in for questioning.
“Haykaz Baghmanyan is behind this case, and he is Serzh [Sargsyan’s] right hand,” the father said. He added that he has over the years repeatedly raised Baghmanyan's name in connection with the soldier's death, however, the general never responded to the allegations.
Gohar Sargsyan has no doubt of her son having been murdered. She told that back in 2008 unknown people terrorized her husband by stopping him on the street and urging him not to complain. “If you do, we'll destroy your family,” they said.
The parents who've been fighting for a fair investigation for years do not plan to give up. They intend to go through all legal instances in the country and wait for the case to be heard at the European Court of Human Rights.