Circumstances Under Which Two Servicemen Were Killed in 2016: Inquiry Committee Clarifies

The Investigative Committee of Armenia has issued a clarification regarding a statement released by the "Dialogue for Peace" NGO about the termination of the activities of the public monitoring working group established by the Committee.

“We inform you that on April 6, 2016, a criminal case was initiated in the fifth military investigative department of the Investigative Committee of Armenia under the features of a crime stipulated in Article 104, Part 2, Clauses 1 and 6 of the RA Criminal Code. This relates to the murder of obligatory conscripts of the RA Ministry of Defense from military unit N during the night of April 5-6, 2016, between approximately 02:30-03:00, and the causing of bodily harm to two other servicemen.

On the same day, an investigative group was formed to examine the incident site, where the body of Grigor Hermonovich Avetisyan was found in front of the tent with gunshot wounds, along with his service weapon. Numerous shells fired from David Dumikian's service weapon were discovered to the right of the tent, and more shells from Grigor Avetisyan's weapon were identified at the entrance of the tent.

Inside the tent, the body of Suren Arthur Aramyan was found, also with gunshot wounds. Upon moving the body, a bullet was discovered underneath, which was fired from Avetisyan's weapon.

On April 6, 2016, David Vladimir Dumikian, a conscript in the RA Ministry of Defense, confessed to the police in Vardenis that he had killed Grigor Avetisyan and Suren Aramyan, claiming the latter had repeatedly humiliated his dignity.

At 22:25 on April 6, 2016, Dumikian was arrested on suspicion of committing a crime under Article 104, Part 2, Clauses 1 and 6 of the RA Criminal Code. In his statements, he later denied having killed Avetisyan or Aramyan and stated that he had not fired shots at them.

Dumikian indicated that around 02:30 on that day, he had not entered the tent but was performing his duties near it. He claimed to have noticed movement near the cannons, alerted Avetisyan, and ran towards the tent entrance. At that moment, he was at almost the rear of the tent. He moved forward, loaded his weapon, and saw flashes of gunfire coming from the entrance but did not see Avetisyan in his line of sight. He did not rule out the possibility that his gunfire may have wounded Avetisyan.

After several moments of firing, he entered the tent and saw Aramyan lying on his back, while the commander was attempting to provide first aid. Subsequently, on April 8, 2016, Dumikian pleaded not guilty to the charges brought against him under Article 104, insisting on the account he had given as a suspect.

The preliminary investigation confirmed the fact of Dumikian’s murder of Avetisyan, but his involvement in the murder of Aramyan and causing bodily harm to the other two servicemen was not substantiated by the evidence collected.

Testimonies from personnel conducting combat duty at the artillery post indicated that they were asleep when the gunfire occurred and awoke to the sounds of shooting, yet did not witness the individual who killed Aramyan or injured the other two servicemen.

According to the forensic conclusions, it has been established that the shells found at the entrance and in front of the tent were fired from the weapon belonging to Avetisyan. Additionally, the bullet found under Suren Aramyan’s body was also fired from Avetisyan's weapon.

The investigation also substantiated the inactivity of the commanding officers at the time prior to the incidents, namely Captain Roman Hakobyan and Junior Sergeant Felix Hovhannisyan.

On March 4, 2017, a decision was made to separate the case against Dumikian and to forward charges against Felix Hovhannisyan and Roman Hakobyan to the first instance court of general jurisdiction of Gegharkunik region for trial.

The judicial proceedings are ongoing. During the investigation, numerous expert examinations have been conducted, operational investigative measures carried out, and interrogations of the servicemen, civilians, and reviews of recorded phone conversations have taken place entailing judicial oversight.

Thus, throughout the investigation, all necessary procedural actions have been carried out, and no proof has been established regarding who killed Aramyan or inflicted bodily harm on the other two servicemen. Consequently, a decision was made to suspend the criminal proceedings due to the absence of persons to be charged for the murder of Suren Aramyan and the bodily injury of Arage Baghdasaryan and Hakob Gevorgyan.

On May 14, 2019, the chief department of military investigations of the RA Investigative Committee received a letter from Edgar Khachatryan, president of the "Dialogue for Peace" NGO, which posed several questions regarding the death of Grigor Avetisyan. Khachatryan was invited to discuss these matters, but the Investigative Committee declined and expressed a desire to conduct the discussion during the next meeting of its public monitoring working group regarding Suren Aramyan. The letter was forwarded to the Investigative Committee for organization at the next meeting of the public monitoring working group and was also sent to the military investigative department of the fifth army corps for examination of the issues raised.