Charges Filed Against Chief of Staff for Causing Khinkoyan's Suicide

A soldier, Granik Khinkoyan, has had charges filed against the deputy commander of the battalion and chief of staff for allegedly causing his suicide. This information has been reported by the Investigative Committee.

"Evidence has been gathered that Major A.T., the deputy commander and chief of staff of the N military unit of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, allegedly committed actions aimed at publicly humiliating the honor and dignity of the soldier by using violence against him in front of fellow servicemen," the statement said.

As previously reported, on August 11, 2023, the body of mandatory military service soldier, Private Granik Khinkoyan, was found in the rear section of the motor pool of the N military unit with a gunshot wound to the head.

During the preliminary investigation, it was revealed that while in a depressed psychological state, Granik Khinkoyan had fired a burst from his service weapon on August 11, 2023, around 08:40, in the back section of the motor pool of the N military unit, inflicting a fatal gunshot wound to himself, which resulted in his death at the scene.

On August 15, a request was submitted to the supervising prosecutor for initiating public criminal proceedings against A.T. under part 2 of Article 522 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, which was approved, and charges were filed against him. A.T. has been arrested for presentation to the court.

A petition has been presented to the first instance court of general jurisdiction of Ararat and Vayots Dzor regions to apply the measure of restraint of detention against the accused, which has been partially approved by the court, and house arrest has been applied as a measure of restraint against A.T.