Witnesses were Pressured, Victim’s Successors Don’t Believe Suicide Theory

About 20 days before the death of 19-year-old military conscript Sargis Sahakyan on November 5, 2012, in the village of Tsiranadzor in Syunik marz (province), a shot was heard during the shift before Sahakyan's at the same military base. This fact, however, did not get the court's attention though it might be directly linked to Sahakyan's death, Helsinki Association for Human Rights attorney Ani Torosyan, representing the accused Artur Misakyan and Artashes Khachatryan, told Epress.am today.

The defendants are accused of inciting the victim to suicide, but they do not admit their guilt. The victim's legal successors, in turn, don't believe the suicide theory. 

Torosyan said she petitioned to question four witnesses regarding the incident, but the court rejected the petition. Syuzanna Khcheyan, the representative of Sahakyan's legal successor, in conversation with Epress.am, also underlined the importance of questioning the witnesses. 

"It's a fact that the witnesses were silent that there was another case of shooting at the military base. This was stated by witness, officer Gor Margaryan after it was discovered that they [the witnesses] were pressured. That is, this was a new fact that came to light, and the court should've examined it," said Khcheyan. 

The witnesses later said their testimonies during the preliminary investigation were obtained under psychological pressure — by being kept for 15 consecutive days in isolation cells.

Speaking about the first shot, Torosyan referred to Gor Margaryan's testimony, who said that after hearing the shot, he ran to the base and saw Sargis, afraid and sitting down, and the other soldier, Tovmas Mnatsakanyan. The latter said that he's the one who shot, explaining it by saying that he was in shock. No one was hurt from the shot. 

"And on the day of Sargis' death, Tovmas Mnatsakanyan got out of [his position] at the military base and said that allegedly ‘the Turks [referring to Azeris] shot Sargis'. Later, the fabricated version of suicide was brought up," said Torosyan, insisting that the incident requires additional investigation. 

According to the indictment, fellow servicemen pressured and humiliated Sargis Sahakyan for secretly eating Snickers, and according to the official version, the insults pushed Sahakyan to suicide.