Parents of Fallen Soldiers Demand Jalal Harutyunyan be Charged

A group of parents of soldiers who lost their lives in the 44-day war has demanded that former commander of the Armed Forces, Jalal Harutyunyan, be charged as a defendant during a meeting with the Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Arigshiti Kyaramyan.

Alexander Ghazaryan, the father of fallen soldier Eduard Ghazaryan, stated in an interview with News.am: "My son served in the seventh battalion of Martuni 3. On October 11, the entire battalion was moved to Hadrut, and 73 members of the battalion were killed there. The soldiers were sent by Jalal Harutyunyan, even though that area had been surrendered on October 9. The criminal case has been open for over a year and is now being sent to court. The preliminary investigation is finishing, and we had gone to the Investigative Committee to discuss it. The case has been initiated on grounds of negligence, but we oppose this because in such cases, it is only treason. The article of negligence suggests a penalty of four to eight years. There has been betrayal from the top commander down to the squad commander. Our boys were heroes; wrong orders are treason, and orders to retreat are treason. We expressed this to Kyaramyan," he said.

According to Alexander Ghazaryan, there are two defendants in the case, whose names cannot be disclosed at this moment. Both high-ranking officials are not in custody.

"This cannot be negligence. The kids are getting trapped and asking for help, but they receive none. If you cannot organize properly, why have you reached such positions? We consider Jalal Harutyunyan the primary culprit and demand that he be charged in the case," said Ghazaryan.

It should be noted that on September 10, the Investigative Committee released a statement that the Chairman of the Committee, Arigshiti Kyaramyan, met with a group of parents of the fallen soldiers and answered their questions.