Epress.am News from Armenia
Former soldier of the Armenian Armed Forces Vazgen Hayrapetyan, who sustained injuries to his thigh and underwent surgery after being involved in a car crash last summer, needs a repeat operation, which, however, is not being performed, Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper writes.
Hayrapetyan’s father, Vahram Hayrapetyan, said in an interview with the paper that his son, who was then serving at a Syunik military unit, was injured on August 15 2016, while being transported along with a number of fellow servicemen to Yerevan to participate in parade rehearsals.
“The soldier was rushed to hospital where he underwent surgery for femoral neck fractures. During surgery, the fractures were stabilized with a metal structure, which was supposed to be removed 4 months after the operation. However, the surgery was performed nearly 6 months ago…” Haykakan Zhamanak writes.
According to the father, his son needs to acquire a disability status to be operated on free of charge. The acquisition process, however, “has become a real headache and seems impossible at this point,” the father said. “You can’t even imagine what’s been going on in the hospital. We are being sent back and forth between the hospital and the army headquarters. But they are categorically refusing to give us any information about what we are supposed to do next.”
Hayrapetyan has sent appeal letters regarding the issue to the Ministry of Defense and the Office of the Armenian human rights Ombudsman. The defense ministry has replied that “the issue has been registered and will soon be solved.” The Ombudsman’s office, however, said they did not have authority over such problems.
Speaking to Haykakan Zhamanak, defense ministry spokesperson Artsrun Hovhannisyan confirmed that the issue is being taken care of and “will definitely be solved.”