Any decision in favor of David Tonoyan should be interpreted as a result of a deal, Melikyan

A public deal has essentially been proposed. From this point forward, any decision or action in favor of David Tonoyan should be interpreted as a result of this deal. This was stated by human rights defender Ruben Melikyan in an interview with Factinfo, commenting on the message circulated by the legal team of former Armenian Minister of Defense David Tonoyan.

It should be noted that today, on October 11, David Tonoyan's legal team announced that he possesses a significant amount of information but is not using it publicly for his defense. According to the lawyers, Tonoyan has refrained from making comments due to state secrecy, the interests of Armenia's national security, and inter-state relations. However, they also noted that Tonoyan will fight for justice, his innocence, and the restoration of his good reputation.

In the interview with the media, Ruben Melikyan first emphasized that this statement should be directly attributed to David Tonoyan; the attorneys serve merely as representatives, and one could even forget the factor of the lawyers, as this is Tonoyan's statement. According to the human rights defender, it is essential to understand what the proceedings of this case will entail. From this moment on, any decision or action in favor of David Tonoyan could and should be perceived as a result of a deal.

Regarding the question of whether to publish information or not, Melikyan stated that if it is subject to publication, it should have been released long ago; if it is not subject to publication, then there is never a right to disclose it. As for the fact that having information and not disclosing it could also have legal repercussions, the human rights defender noted that it could become a subject of criminal proceedings, but that is a secondary issue.

Addressing the aspect concerning the criminal case related to the period of Artak Davtyan's term as Chief of the General Staff, Melikyan mentioned that it is possible he might also be informed about the deal, yet he does not hold the status of a defendant in the case. He pointed out that the uniqueness of criminal proceedings is that information is protected under the institution of pre-investigation secrecy, and in this case, there is also a more stringent regime of state secrecy. From that perspective, only assumptions and conjectures can be made.

“It is reasonable to assume that there must be certain questions regarding the actions attributed to David Tonoyan also directed at the current Chief of General Staff. However, this can only be seen as speculation since the information has not been disclosed to the public to the necessary extent,” Melikyan stated.

In response to the observation that many expected generals to speak out and reveal the true reasons for the war and defeat after the end of the war, while seeing military personnel remaining silent, Melikyan mentioned that the defeat had two sides: diplomatic and military. “In diplomacy, we can say that 100% and more of the responsibility lies directly on Nikol Pashinyan's shoulders. However, in the military sphere, that responsibility and guilt are shared fully by the military leadership. Therefore, it is not so reasonable to expect them to provide self-incriminating testimonies discussing both their offenses and those of Nikol Pashinyan,” Melikyan concluded.