Details Regarding the Mataghis Commander Case: Division Commander Also Attended the Celebration, Media Reports

The criminal case against Sevak Abrahamyan, the commander of the Mataghis military unit, is currently in court. Preliminary hearings have taken place at the General Jurisdiction Court of Syunik Province. News.am reports that, according to Abrahamyan's lawyer Arman Tamrazyan, the case has been transferred to the General Jurisdiction Court of Yerevan, and the date for the next hearing has not yet been announced.

Addressing the charges brought against him, Tamrazyan stated that the commander had no information, and could not have had any, regarding an enemy attack the day before the 44-day war. “The authority to bring the troops to the first level of combat readiness lies with the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff. Those individuals have access to more extensive intelligence means; they made no decision to bring the troops to the first level of combat readiness. Such a decision was not made by the commander of the Armed Forces, his deputies, the division commander, or his deputies. It seems to imply that the enemy only attacked the Mataghis battalion, and Sevak Abrahamyan did not bring the troops to the first level of combat readiness. The enemy attacked across the entire length of the border, and no commander of any military unit brought their troops to full combat readiness,” he stated.

Regarding the accusation that the commander organized a celebration on September 26, the lawyer explained that it took place with the knowledge and permission of the Commander of the Army and the Division Commander. “Moreover, the division commander also attended the celebration. I should note that the celebration ended quite quickly,” he added.

The lawyer mentioned that Sevak Abrahamyan also had no information about enemy troop build-ups. “The criminal case contains clear testimonies about what information was available at that time and what data was received afterwards. The entire ignorance of the charges is that the investigator claims that because of this celebration, the enemy captured Talish and Mataghis. This means that if there were no celebration, the enemy would not have attacked, and Talish and Mataghis would not have been captured.”

Arman Tamrazyan stated that the Chief of Staff and the Division Commander testified that the enemy forces outnumbered them by a ratio of 1 to 10. “That is, according to battlefield regulations, if the ratio of troops is 1 to 3, then defense can be carried out, but with a 1 to 10 ratio, nothing can be done. Nevertheless, that military unit engaged in combat for five days.”

The defense attorney pointed out that the investigative body is not interested in the losses at Talish and Mataghis. “Because if they carry out a thorough investigation, they will find out under whose orders and from which areas the troops were withdrawn.”

It is noteworthy that last year, a senior officer was arrested on charges of failing to organize the defense of the villages of Talish and Mataghis in the Martakert region of Artsakh properly. According to the allegation, the commander organized a celebration involving around 100 army officers the day before the start of the war, during which he received information that there were enemy troop build-ups on the front lines and that the risk of war was high, yet he did not bring his personnel to combat readiness or take any actions to prevent or counter the enemy's attack.