Commander of the Platoon Humiliated Soldier's Honor and Dignity; Soldier Committed Suicide: Investigative Committee

Significant circumstances have been uncovered regarding the use of violence against servicemen by superiors and the reckless driving to suicide of a serviceman. This was reported by the Investigative Committee.

During the investigation carried out by the 6th garrison investigative department of the Military Investigative Main Department of the RA Investigative Committee, it was established that a lieutenant serving as the commander of the infantry platoon of military unit N of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia, responsible for the military discipline and moral-psychological state of the platoon personnel, exhibited behavior contrary to the provisions of the internal service regulations of the Armed Forces of Armenia in the performance of his military duties.

Specifically, he made humiliating remarks regarding the honor and dignity of a soldier sleeping at the combat position during combat duty in front of present servicemen, which resulted in the soldier Aleks Avanesyan firing a shot from his service weapon at his forehead at around 19:55 on September 12, 2023, in a nearby area to the firing position of military unit N, ultimately leading to his death from life-threatening injuries.

Moreover, the platoon commander committed acts of violence against another serviceman in the presence of other servicemen.

Based on sufficient evidence collected, public criminal prosecution has been initiated against the commander, and he has been charged under the second part of Article 520, Clause 2, and Article 522, Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Criminal Code of Armenia.

A petition has been filed with the court to choose detention as a preventive measure against him, which has been granted. The pre-trial investigation continues.