Court Sessions on the Case of 18 Soldiers’ Deaths are Being Postponed Regularly; Colonel Maksudyan to be Summoned

At the Yerevan court of general jurisdiction, presided over by Judge David Harutyunyan, a decision was made to summon Colonel Artak Maksudyan as a witness in the case regarding the deaths of 16 servicemen and 2 officers at the Ishkhanadzor junction during the 44-day war. This information was relayed to News.am by the father of deceased serviceman Artashes Khalatyan, Hakob Khalatyan.

The father of the fallen soldier stated that the court had started questioning witnesses in the case, but Maksudyan has failed to appear for the third court session. It is worth noting that according to the indictment, Lieutenant Colonel Veranyan received an order on October 9, 2020, to transfer the personnel from the Horadiz area to the village of Til. They heard the sound of a drone in Ishkhanadzor, but Veranyan ordered the troops to get in the vehicle and continue on their way. Five minutes later, the drone struck their Ural vehicle. A total of 18 servicemen were killed, and one sustained injuries.

The servicemen had been serving in the Meghri and Agarak military units before the war broke out. As the war commenced, the young servicemen were taken to Artsakh. Upon learning that his son was being transferred to Artsakh, one father drove to be near his son and witnessed the death of his son and his fellow soldiers.

Initially, the court session was supposed to take place at the Syunik Regional Court of General Jurisdiction; however, the legal successors of the victims requested for the sessions to be held in Yerevan due to the difficulties of traveling to Syunik for every court session.

It should be noted that Andranik Veranyan was detained for two months and held at the “Vardashen” penitentiary. His pre-trial measure was later changed to a signature bond. Although Veranyan does not accept the charges, the relatives of the servicemen insist that he is guilty and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. The parents are convinced that it was his erroneous order that led to the deaths of the 18 young men.