19-Year-Old Soldier Pleads Guilty to Murder of Fellow Serviceman

Hovhannes Khudaverdyan, a 19-year-old native of the village of Mkhchyan, pleaded guilty to killing a fellow soldier in 2016 and was sentenced to 9 years and 9 months in prison.

During their service at a southern military unit in Nagorno Karabakh, Khudaverdyan and Vahagn Virabyan ended up brawling after Virabyan supposedly notified their superiors that Khudaverdyan had fallen asleep while on guard duty. According to the defendant’s own testimony, he told Virabyan that “a good guy” would never tell on his peer and promised to beat him up once they were back at the unit. Khudaverdyan also told the court that Virabyan had also swore at him during the argument and “insulted all that is sacred to me,” thereby prompting him to grab his rifle and open fire on the soldier.

Forensic examinations also found that Khudaverdyan was conscious at the time of the murder and all his actions were a product of his own volition. Syunik district court judge Napoleon Ohanyan ruled that Virabyan was killed “in reprisal” for telling on Khudaverdyan and swearing at him.