Witnesses in My Son's Murder Case Are Openly Intimidated: The Father of the Deceased Cadet

Seven years after my son's murder, witnesses in the case are being intimidated and threatened to change their testimonies. This was stated by Arkadi Barseghyan, the father of cadet Haykaz Barseghyan, who was brutally murdered at the Vazgen Sargsyan Military Institute on the night of January 28-29, 2015, during a conversation with Tert.am. He emphasized that this was also reported during the latest court session.

There is also a criminal case underway in the Masis division concerning this issue. The threats are from a friend of the accused, Vache Sahakyan. They go to see the witnesses and say, 'We will cut your throat,' 'You better watch your eyes,' 'Think about your parents.' 'These threats have been made to Gevorg Vardanyan from the group; he is now working in aviation, to Tigran Demirchyan, and to all the guys in the room, the on-duty and the shift leaders have also been called, they have gone to meet them, trying to deceive them, to intimidate them, to persuade them. Imagine, Khachik Minasyan and Telman Mkrtchyan are serving in Artsakh, they spoke on behalf of the judge, saying that the judge instructed them to call and that they must come and change their testimonies,' Arkadi Barseghyan detailed.

He noted that witness Gevorg Vardanyan has also filed a complaint regarding the threats made against him. 'It is clear that Haykaz’s case has been pushed into the background for society; there has been so much mourning, so many casualties, it was natural for it to be like that, but when the case was in the public spotlight, they were again calling to change the testimonies, but they didn’t intimidate openly. Now they have begun to intimidate; there is a popular saying, 'the older the case gets, the bolder they become.' They are now acting without fear, saying, 'Do you want the police to be called; do you want to tell the investigator? We are not afraid of anyone; you must come to court and change your testimony,' he added.

The father of the murdered cadet informed that there is also a recording where witness Khachik Minasyan says that they are demanding testimony changes on behalf of the judge; the recording was made with Khachik Minasyan's consent.

It is noted that those accused of Haykaz Barseghyan’s murder are his classmates: cadets Gnel Tevosyan, Norik Sahakyan, Vache Sahakyan, and Movses Azaryan. According to the indictment, they brutally murdered cadet Haykaz Barseghyan in the barracks dormitory between 02:00 and 03:00 on January 29, 2015, and then, with the intent to hide the traces, hanged his body from a sports apparatus in the gym while leaving a note in his name claiming it was a suicide. The defendants do not acknowledge their guilt.