“Do not forget that you also have a daughter”
On March 15th, 2010, at approximately 00:35 in the backside of the officer՛s room at N 39138 military unit of the Defense Army the body of private Valerik Azat Muradyan was found hanged from an iron pole. Valerik Muradyan was a driver and a mandatory serviceman of the same unit. On May 15, 2010 the first garrison investigative department of the RA MD Investigative Service initiated criminal case N 90951310 under Article 110, part 1 and carried out preliminary investigation. However, a number of facts give a reason to think that a false and biased preliminary investigation was carried out with the help of which the investigative body tried to present the obvious case of murder as a suicide of by hanging oneself. The murder hypothesis is grounded by the forensic examination that revealed injuries on the body caused by a striking with a blunt object and two bruises on the neck.
Blood stains obvious to the naked eye were found on the rope that is the evidence for this case. However, the preliminary investigation expert supposedly was not able to determine the blood type, explaining that the blood was not enough for an examination. However, expert R. Martirosyan thinks this is a falsification because the blood stain is visible even to the naked eye, which means that the blood amount is enough for an examination. The preliminary investigative body considered to be proven the fact that the stool with the help of which Muradyan hanged himself was brought by him. But his fingerprints were not found on its surface.
During the examination of the crime scene, the vest of soldier Avetik Khachatryan, the military belt of Norayr Grigoryan, and the cap of another soldier were found and confiscated. The preliminary investigation body was not willing to examine how the objects happened to be in the crime scene. The investigator considered sufficient the explanations of two soldiers that supposedly they had been on the scene long before the incident and carelessly left their clothes there.
According to Martirosyan such behavior of an investigator is more than strange, especially if we take into consideration the fact that he was accusing N.Grigoryan and A.Khachatryan in causing Muradyan to commit suicide. Right after the incident Muradyan՛s mother informed the preliminary investigation body that her son a few days before his death witnessed some illegalities in the army unit, particularly fuel stealing. He even informed Defense Minister S. Ohanyan about that.
The mother asserts that she heard about this from her son during a phone conversation 4-5 days preceding his death. Moreover, military prosecutor G.Kostanyan in a television interview announced that the investigation had revealed that the deceased Valerik Muradyan witnessed numerous violations in the unit. The prosecutor also asserted that the investigation was in process and those who were guilty would be punished. It still remains unclear why later on the facts were concealed and why the offenders have still not been found and punished. It is noted in the forensic report that during the investigation of the body two injuries were found which were caused by a striking with a blunt object 3-4 days before the death. However, the successor of the deceased assures that the preliminary investigation body, without conducting appropriate operations, made an announcement that the injuries were supposedly caused in the course of Muradyan՛s work. The preliminary investigation body refused to pass to the successor the copies of the photos and the applications for complex committee examination.
According to Valerik Muradyan՛s mother, Nana Muradyan, when the senior prosecutor of the RA armed forces met her in the hall of the military prosecutor՛s office instead of assuring her that they were doing everything to solve the crime he frightened her with the rhetorical statement, “do not forget that you also have a daughter…”
A criminal case related to the death of Valerik Muradyan was initiated and a preliminary investigation was carried out in Nagorno Karabakh. Then, in 2011, after numerous complaints from the soldier՛s mother Nana Muradyan, the case was passed on to the Investigation Service of the RA Ministry of Defense for additional preliminary investigation.
After the resumption of the preliminary investigation a soldier was arrested who was charged for slapping and humiliating V. Muradyan a month before the incident. The prosecution of the soldier was stopped based on the National Assembly՛s decision on amnesty .
During the presidential campaign in 2013, Nana Muradyan approached S.Sargsyan and reminded him that he promised to solve her son՛s murder case three years ago. In response then presidential candidate S.Sargsyan answered, “what do you think, is it easy to solve a murder case?” She replied, “it is very difficult to solve a murder, if there is no will to do it.”
In near future Peace Dialogue will publish a few other samples regarding incidents that occurred before 2011 that are included in the “Analysis of the violations revealed from the preliminary investigation and the judicial processes regarding the fatalities in the RA armed forces in non-combat situations” by Ruben Martirosyan and Lala Aslikyan.
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(*) See: www.panorama.am (Armenian)
The project Safe Soldiers for a Safe Armenia is supported by IKV Pax Christi.
IKV Pax Christi is a Dutch civil society organisation that works with its partners for peace, reconciliation and justice worldwide. The organisation supports local peace efforts in conflict areas and builds bridges, nurture mutual understanding and improve disrupted relations between groups. IKV Pax Christi՛s aim is to prevent conflict and to build a peaceful, democratic and just society.
Posted 01 November, 2013
