Financial Claim to be Presented to Dismissed Platoon Commander: Media

After giving an interview to journalists regarding the fire that broke out in the barracks of the engineering platoon located in the territory of Azat village in Gegharkunik Province, a financial claim will be presented to the dismissed platoon commander. This was stated by lawyer Arsen Babayan in a conversation with “Factinfo”.

“As we have already reported, on the day of the tragic incident, the platoon commander inaccurately assessed the theory about the fire igniting due to the connection of the heater to gasoline, a theory circulated by Prime Minister Pashinyan during a government meeting. Immediately after the interview, information circulated that law enforcement was preparing to arrest the platoon commander, and the government propaganda machine had targeted the serviceman by linking him with various opposition political forces.

Later, it became known that the platoon commander was dismissed from his position the very day after the interview. Although the dismissal was reportedly by his own request, it was under pressure that he was told to resign, and he did so. The issue of pressure may not be a decisive factor in the financial claim that will be presented to him. The problem is that the platoon commander has a contract signed for a period of 10 years, and in case of dismissal by his own request, he is required to pay a penalty of 1 million drams for each unserved year, meaning that a financial claim will be presented, although Arsen Babayan cannot specify the amount yet, as the Ministry of Defense has not yet calculated it. The amount is approximately 6 million drams,” the report states.

It is noted that the platoon commander has been questioned once in the framework of the criminal proceedings as a witness. He has not yet been invited for a second questioning.

In the course of the proceedings, two of the three servicemen, who are in the Burn Treatment Center due to the fire, have been questioned. The captain, who was admitted to the hospital a day earlier and is accused of attempting to connect the heater to a container of 5 liters of gasoline, has not yet been questioned according to official sources and has refused to give testimony. Given his health condition, the issue of his preventive measure has not been raised for now.

“Regarding the major who was arrested yesterday, the prosecutor's office responded to “Factinfo” that the major has been detained,” the report adds.