Epress.am News from Armenia
The investigation into the 2014 death of Karabakh war veteran Vardan Tumanyan has been ongoing for two years; currently, it is in a deadlock since the results of the four forensic medical examinations conducted as part of the case contradict each other.
Tigran Muradyan, lawyer for Tumanyan’s widow Tanya Melkumyan, told Epress.am on Friday that at an August 17 hearing the court decided to grant their motion for a new forensic medical examination. Muradyan has already submitted his question to the new expert.
Tumanyan’s legal successors consider it absurd that the latest medical examination concluded that the veteran’s death was not caused by the beating to which he had been subjected the day before. Tumanyan has been beaten by Victor Hovsepyan, Sargis Ghukasyan and their uncle Gevorg Sargsyan, known by the nickname Jungle. The young people had come “to see” Tumanyan after the latter quarrelled with their grandfather while playing chess.
A forensic medical examination conducted by a group of experts invited by Armenia’s health ministry had found that Tumanyan’s death was caused by a birth defect. After this conclusion, the three defendants were released on their own recognizance. Sargis Ghukasyan and Gevorg Sargsyan, however, have recently been arrested again due to an attempt to leave the country.
In an earlier interview with Epress.am, Vardan Tumanyan’s sister, Marieta Tumanyan, has stated that during the preliminary investigation they had repeatedly heard the defense declare that the defendants could not be sentenced to imprisonment because “Javakhk [Union] has their back.”