New Recruit Beaten for a Day, Soldier Escapes; Materials Being Prepared

Reports regarding the humiliation and violence against a new recruit in one of the military units in Kapan will become the subject of investigation by the police.

It is reminded that information has circulated in the press indicating that the command staff of one of the military units in Kapan degraded and assaulted the recruit, forcing him to clean the latrine, which led to the recruit’s escape. MP Tahughik Tovmasyan of the ‘I Have Honor’ faction in the National Assembly has also voiced concerns about the received alarm, stating that the relatives of the recruit indicated that he was drafted into the army on January 31 and on the morning of February 1, he and two other soldiers were forced to clean. They refused, resulting in them being beaten, not allowed to use the cafeteria, sleep, drink water, and so on.

“The soldier established contact with his relatives and told them the circumstances, after which contact with him was lost. He escaped, and the second soldier reported the beating. The relatives also mentioned that the Ministry of Defense and the command staff of that military unit apologized to them, acknowledging that there had been a compulsion to clean the area, claiming that the soldier was struck once, but no mention was made regarding the cleaning of the latrine,” stated Tovmasyan.

Factinfo has reached out to Gor Abrahamyan, the advisor to the Chief Prosecutor of Armenia on media relations, who informed that materials are being prepared by the police, and those publications have been sent to the relevant body for examination. To the clarifying question about whether materials are being prepared regarding the service member’s abandonment of his duty station, which also includes the publications about violence and humiliation against him, the prosecutor’s advisor responded:

“Yes, a remote message has been received concerning the soldier leaving his service area, and in connection with that, materials are being prepared. After these publications surfaced, they have been sent by us to the prosecuting body to investigate the circumstances mentioned in them and to solve the ongoing process collaboratively. Necessary investigative actions are taking place, and already there are data available that contradict the information about the beating and humiliation of recruits mentioned in the publications. However, we should not rush to give final assessments; all circumstances will be clarified and evaluated during the investigation.”