Commander Inflicts Self-Harm to Evade Combat Assignment During 44-Day War

The commander of a rifle platoon in the N military unit, V.H., during the state of war and under the conditions of military operations on November 2, 2020, lacking the order or permission from the senior officer to retreat from occupied combat positions, unjustly ordered the staff of the combat position to retreat instead of halting the advance of the enemy and preventing the spread. As a result, the personnel abandoned their combat positions, as reported by the Prosecutor's Office of Armenia.

Following this, V.H. sought medical assistance, claiming to have sustained injuries described as "soft tissue contusions in the left knee area, scratches, and swelling," which did not indicate any serious bodily harm, allowing him to be excused from performing his duties for several days.

After recovering and returning to duty, on the night of November 5-6, 2020, V.H. learned that he would be joining the platoon for a combat mission and attempted to persuade sergeant A.M. to inflict artificial harm to his health. After being rejected by A.M., V.H. decided to self-mutilate. On November 6, while traveling to the combat positions, V.H. shot himself in the right thigh with his assigned service rifle, causing moderate bodily harm that resulted in long-term deterioration of health.

By the order of the commander of the Armed Forces of Armenia on February 16, 2021, V.H. was relieved of his position.

On July 22, 2023, the supervising prosecutor initiated public criminal prosecution against V.H. under part 3 of Article 364 and part 5 of Article 363 of the Criminal Code, which refers to a serviceman's refusal to perform military service or specific duties and causing bodily harm (mutilation), simulation of illness, or evading military service by illegal means.

It was noted that on August 1, 2023, the prosecutor forwarded the criminal case materials with an indictment conclusion to the first-instance general jurisdiction criminal court of Syunik region.