Protest Rally in Front of Government: Anna Hakobyan Does Not Meet Us, Says Mother of Fallen Soldier
Another protest rally is taking place in front of the government by mothers of soldiers who died during peacetime while serving in the military.
The mother of fallen soldier Valery Muradyan noted that after the revolution, Nikol Pashinyan had met with them and promised that the cases would be clarified. However, even today, there have been no steps taken towards the actual disclosure of these cases. Despite the establishment of a monitoring commission and reopening of cases, no real progress has been made.
“We had high expectations, very high. We were waiting for him to be very strict in his orders. But if parents are still standing here, it means that no issues have been resolved. We were constantly told that our cases are with the commission, a commission has been formed, and the Investigative Committee is studying them with NGOs. Specifically, my son’s case was with human rights defender Edgar Khachatryan, who requested numerous materials from the Investigative Committee, but nothing was provided. He left the group and issued a statement. All this was just to throw dust in the public's eyes, but they cannot deceive us. Nikol Pashinyan should not let our hope die; it’s not possible for him to deceive us,” she said.
The parents also mentioned that they had contacted Anna Hakobyan for a meeting, considering that she is also a soldier's mother and would understand their plight. However, they received a written response from an employee named Nana, who stated that Anna Hakobyan would not be in the country and that they do not deal with financial issues.
“But look, is there a line about money here? We are not asking for money! She refused to meet us, at least she could have said, ‘I’m sorry, we will do everything to solve these cases,’” stated one of the parents, Nana Muradyan.
The mother of fallen soldier Tigran Ohanyan, Gohar Sargsyan, also mentioned that they had approached the Chairman of the National Assembly’s Committee on Defense and Security, Andranik Kocharyan, who replied that the specified cases are being reviewed by the monitoring commission. According to Gohar Sargsyan, the commission cannot be objective since those involved had previously participated in the investigations of these cases.
“They haven’t even made a single phone call to see if the monitoring commission can check, especially if the cases are with the investigative bodies. The commission, which I raised concerns about, has its chairman as Artak Kirkyasharyan, the head of the Defense Ministry's Investigative Department, who was an investigator in my son Tigran Ohanyan's case. The second investigator who covered up the evidence since 2007 is still involved. If they reconsider Tigran Ohanyan’s case, a criminal case will be initiated against him. It has already been 12 years, and my son’s murder case is still in the preliminary investigation phase. It goes to court, gets suspended, reopened—this carousel continues. I don’t believe Nikol Pashinyan is unaware of this situation,” she elaborated.
The video can be viewed on Tert.am.