Video: "You Know Little About the Bombing of the Shushi Culture House on October 4, 2020" - Ioannissian

The coordinator of the EIHC and member of the Public Council, Daniel Ioannissian, wrote on his Facebook page: "You know little about certain details regarding the bombing of the Shushi Culture House on October 4, 2020, the criminal chaos that prevailed in the police force, and the incompetence prevailing there.

On October 4, around 500 officers from the Shirak, Lori, and Tavush regional directorates of the police were sent to the front line under the command of Colonel Tigran Karapetian, the head of the Lori regional directorate. When the convoy reached Shushi, an air raid alarm was triggered in Stepanakert, and a decision was made to remain in Shushi for the time being.

On the orders of Tigran Karapetian, the 500 policemen were deployed in the Culture House (in its basements). Some dissatisfaction began among the policemen because they were not provided with green camouflage and were sent to the front in blue camouflage. Colonel Karapetian was unable to convince the policemen to continue their journey, nor could he find green uniforms.

To discuss the situation with the policemen, the Deputy Commander of the Personnel of the Artsakh Defense Army, compassionate Arthur Sargsyan, arrived in Shushi. Unaware that gathering 500 people in one place was already very dangerous, he instructed the policemen to come out of the basement and gather in the hall.

At the moment they gathered in the hall, a ballistic missile struck the building's roof, resulting in the deaths of 27 policemen, with many others wounded. Shortly after, together with Arman Babajanyan, we learned that such an incident occurred. We quickly rushed to provide assistance and became witnesses to a total chaos.

By talking to local residents, we found groups of Tavush and Lori policemen who had taken shelter in different places after the strike. Among them were wounded individuals who had received no assistance at that time. The groups did not know each other and were unaware of the whereabouts of their commander.

Not long after, a delegation of police leadership, arriving in shiny new cars and polished shoes, reached Shushi, lacking even the list of those 500 policemen, completely unaware of the locations of the policemen who had taken shelter post-strike and how many had died.

When we saw how the police leadership was sitting in the Shushi division, trying to call around to ascertain who had been among the 500 people, we couldn't believe our eyes. Even in the list they assembled, some of the saved policemen identified by Arman Babajanyan and myself were not included.

It remained unclear how the Azerbaijanis knew about the presence of 500 policemen in the Culture House. But the order to gather 500 policemen in the hall of the Culture House was a criminal order, resulting in the killing of 27 policemen by a ballistic missile strike and demoralizing the rest. Even those who were not injured were no longer in a state to be sent back to the front, and the front did not receive 500 fresh troops.

Tomorrow we will file a report about the crime, hoping that the order given to have the 500 policemen emerge from the basement of the Culture House and assemble in the hall will receive a legal assessment. But even if Colonel Tigran Karapetian (who is now the head of the Aragatsotn division) faces criminal liability, it must still be recognized that this is a systemic issue. No one has ever taught the Lori police chief that there are ballistic missiles and what to do (and what not to do) to avoid putting their subordinates at risk of being killed by them.

P.S. The next morning, in the footage I shot, it is clear that the missile explosion did not reach the basements and if the policemen had not been ordered out of the basements into the hall, nothing would have happened."