IN ARMENIA, OFFICER IS ACCUSED OF MURDERING A PRIVATE

02 2009, 22:50

The Military Prosecutor’s Office of Armenia has initiated a criminal
case on the fact of a murder of Aram Lazarian, 18, a regular
soldier, who died as a result of beatings, rendered, according to
the investigation, by an officer of the Vaiksk military unit.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Aram Lazarian, aged 18,
a private of the Vaiksk military unit, recruited to his mandatory
service in spring this year, died in the morning on September 1 in the
hospital, without coming to consciousness, from the beatings rendered
by the platoon commander Andok Gasparyan. According to the relatives
of the perished young soldier, Aram was three times beaten by Captain
Gasparyan on August 28. Most of the blows were rendered on his head.

According to the data received from the Military Prosecutor’s Office,
Andok Gasparyan is kept there; he was presented a charge under part 2,
Article 375, "Excess of Service Powers". Gasparyan has pled guilty; at
the same time he asked to subject the casualty to medical examination
in order to define whose blows were mortal. The relatives do not
exclude that the private could be beaten by one more officer.